Chuck and Sarah vs the Ex
by NorCali
Summary: In the process of taking down Fulcrum, Team Chuck faces its biggest threat, from their past. Chuck/Sarah/OC/OC. Sequel to vs. the Defense Contractor.
1. New and Old Beginnings

**Chuck and Sarah vs. the Ex, Chapter 1**

Disclaimer: I don't own anything at all related to _Chuck_. No characters, no plots, no themes, no nothing. Enjoy!

_Note: This is a sequel to Chuck vs. the Defense Contractor. Knowing what happened there would be helpful, but hopefully, not necessary for the reading of this story._

**  
Home Theater Room; Buy More, Buy More Plaza, Los Angeles, 9:41pm on a weekday**

Chuck zoned out as Sarah and Casey briefed General Beckman via videoconference on their latest mission. It was the first failure Team Chuck had experienced in the past month. Perhaps failure was too strong a label for that evening's mission. _Non-success_ might be more appropriate. Since taking down Raymond Johnson and the Miller-Johnson Corporation, they had been batting a thousand. Nikki Johnson had taken up residence at an unknown east coast location and utilized her knowledge of her father's company to help the CIA and NSA pick through the Byzantine remains of Miller-Johnson. The public never learned of how the world's largest defense contractor nearly destroyed the American intelligence community. Numerous crimes were uncovered and previously unknown channels of influence to the highest levels of foreign and domestic governments were eliminated. Corrupt officials who could prove useful were put on the CIA payroll. American and allied officials who weren't useful were put on the retirement track. Foreign officials from unfriendly nations were terminally retired. The mercenary contractors that Miller-Johnson employed provided a wealth of new information about Fulcrum which led to massive progress against them. It was estimated that more than half of the subversive cabal had been taken down in the last month. Having two Intersects at their disposal, the CIA and NSA doubled the intelligence they could process and act on. Nikki was the consummate professional, doing all that was asked of her and more. She had quickly earned the respect of her superiors, and even a small amount of trust.

With no computerized Intersect on the horizon, the powers-that-be decided to invest in their two human Intersects. Both Chuck and Nikki received the latest intelligence data, which was originally intended for the Beta Intersect. The frequency was still to be determined, but periodic updates were now part of the plan. Their recent successes caused even General Beckman to appreciate the unique value of Chuck and Nikki.

Chuck's personal life was going well too. There was a new level of honesty and trust between him and Sarah since they bared their feelings to each other. His confidence had grown as had his Intersect skills. He was better able to make more complex connections between data points. Sarah was more purposeful in her craft having come to terms with knowing that she would protect Chuck to her end for both professional, and personal reasons. There was no more tiptoeing around between them. They happily accepted their roles of Intersect, guardian, and significant other.

They never showed their affection for each other in front of Casey in non-cover situations, but he was too astute not to notice all the little things. As long as the missions were accomplished, he subscribed to a don't ask don't tell policy. He actually welcomed their real relationship since both of them were happy and motivated, and that contributed to their recent win streak. He never would have thought those two would get together but maybe opposites did attract.

A smile unknowingly crept onto Chuck's face as the room grew silent. Sarah elbowed him gently.

"Well, Chuck?" Beckman asked.

Caught completely off-guard, he had no idea what they were talking about.

Casey suspected that Chuck's distraction had to do with the tall blonde standing next to him. Maybe their relationship wasn't always the best thing. It was late and he wanted to go home so he took pity on him.

"Chuck, the General asked you if you had any flashes at the warehouse. Did you recognize anything that we found?"

"Uhh, that's a negative. There wasn't much there and I didn't recognize what was."

"Very well. We've had tremendous success against Fulcrum recently so one misfire is acceptable. Review your intelligence to see where we went wrong and let's move on. Keep up the good work." Beckman signed off.

"Wow, I've never seen her so cheerful after a failed, I mean non-successful mission." Chuck observed.

"Me neither. Let's not test her with another failed mission." Casey said.

Sarah chimed in. "This was a weird one. All the intelligence pointed to a Fulcrum operation being run out of that warehouse. It turns out to be a nearly empty building with no sign of them ever having been there. Didn't the original flash originate from Nikki?"

"I verified her flash with the same data. That's as solid as we can get." Chuck wondered how long Sarah would maintain her animosity toward Nikki.

"It's possible that the original intelligence was faulty. We're working on the bleeding edge here. At the pace we're rolling Fulcrum up, we haven't had much time to verify sources." Casey said.

A thought passed through Chuck's mind. Maybe Fulcrum planted the information to ambush them. Well, not ambush them since there was nobody waiting for them when they stormed the building with twenty agents. Why else would Fulcrum set them up?

Before he could run with the thought, he felt Sarah's pinky wrap around his. He turned and noticed her looking at him mischievously. He knew what she was thinking of. All thoughts about Fulcrum disappeared from his mind. He grinned back.

They continued the grinning as Casey stored the classified videoconference equipment with his back to them.

"God, please don't tell me you've defiled the couch here," Casey remarked.

Chuck instantly backed away from Sarah, who didn't move or stop smiling.

"If you're going back to Chuck's place, make sure you bring the white noise bug scrambler. I don't want to hear anything that would make me commit suicide."

Before Chuck could answer, Sarah produced the USB sized sonic scrambler and held it up. She continued grinning at Chuck, who now got an idea of what Sarah intended for later. In the four weeks that their relationship had become real, he had rounded first and second bases. Chuck thought that he was going to slide into third, but maybe he was being waved home.

"OkCasey,IthinkI'llridehomewithSarahseeyoutomorrowSarahlet'sgo." Chuck made a beeline for the theater room door.

As Chuck threw the door open, Casey looked disgustedly at Sarah. "Don't short circuit the Intersect. I don't think he's gone mountain climbing in years."

Sarah winked back. "Don't worry. I'm an excellent sherpa." She followed Chuck out.

Casey's face screwed into a grimace as he visualized some unwelcome images of his teammates. He felt the need to go home and take a hot shower.

**  
Buy More, Buy More Plaza, Los Angeles, 9:55pm on a weekday**

Sarah caught up to Chuck and they began walking out of the store hand-in-hand. They passed Morgan, Jeff, and Lester at the Nerd Herd desk. The three were having an animated discussion.

"Morgan, you're going to lock up the store, right?" Chuck asked.

"Yes I will, tall buddy of mine. You two lovebirds go do your thing."

"Thanks buddy. Later guys."

Lester and Jeff began elbowing each other and talking in whispered tones. Morgan narrowed his eyes and shook his head trying to shut them up. Lester finally spoke.

"Chuck, we were discussing you and your relationship with Sarah. We have a question for you." Morgan punched Lester in the arm. "Hey, you were curious too!"

Chuck looked at Sarah, who rolled her eyes, smiled, and shrugged her shoulders. Chuck shrugged back, and replied. "What's your question?"

Lester walked around to the front of the desk. "We understand that you and Sarah go into the theater room and close the curtains. We understand why. Everyone has fond memories of the couch in there…"

"You don't!" Jeff interrupted.

"Neither do you! As I was saying, I, we know that you two go into there for some _bom chicka wah wah._ If Sarah was my girlfriend, I would too, five times a day."

Jeff, Morgan, and Chuck all looked at Lester. Sarah gave him an especially dangerous look that made him scamper back around the desk.

"Anyways, we understand you two going in there so much. But why is Casey always in there with you too?"

Chuck and Sarah looked at each other with frightened looks. For a long while, they had no response.

Chuck finally responded. "Why don't you ask Casey?"

"Ask Casey what?" Casey finished stowing the communications gear and had silently approached Lester from the rear.

"Bye guys!" Sarah cheerfully said as she and Chuck turned and left.

"Ask Casey what?" Casey repeated with more menace.

**  
Ellie Bartowski's apartment in Echo Park, Los Angeles, 10:34pm on a weekday**

Chuck and Sarah were greeted by Ellie as they walked into the apartment. She was putting away plates and utensils in the kitchen.

"Hi guys. How's it going?"

"It's going well Ellie," Sarah replied. "How's the wedding planning going? Is Devon around?"

"Devon's got overnight call tonight. We're on schedule with the wedding plans. If you don't mind, can I get your help picking out invitations and programs? I want another woman's opinion. Guys just don't notice the details on these things."

Chuck hurriedly answered, "You're right sis, guys don't notice those things. Sarah will be happy to help you pick out the thingamajigs, this weekend or something. Right now," Chuck feigned a yawn. "We're really tired and want to get some rest. Oh, and Sarah will be sleeping over here tonight. Good night!" He grabbed Sarah's hand and pulled her down the hallway.

"Chuck!"

He stopped, turned, and walked back to his sister. "Yes?" he said patiently.

"Can you take the garbage out before turning in? Your old sizzling shrimp was in the fridge and had to go. It lost its sizzle days ago."

"I can take it out first thing in the morning."

"It's going to stink up the whole apartment if you don't take it out now. Please? It is your shrimp after all."

He hung his head. "Ok."

"Thanks Chuck! You guys have a good night. I'll let you know when we can look at the samples, Sarah."

As Ellie walked to her room, Sarah called out. "Good night, Ellie."

She walked behind Chuck and wrapped her arms around him. She rose to her toes and whispered into his ear. "If you're a good brother and take out the trash, I'll have a special reward for you when you get back." He slouched down to her height to give her better access to his ear. She abused her access by running her tongue around the outside of his ear before lightly nibbling his earlobe.

His ear beginning to catch fire, he decided to act. He grabbed the already smelly garbage bag and headed for the door. "I'll be back in a minute."

Sarah backed down the hallway while slowly unbuttoning her blouse. "Don't make me wait." She gave him her best seductive look.

Chuck glanced at her for an instant before rushing out the door. Sarah figured he'd return in far less than a minute. She smiled to herself as she went to his bedroom.

**  
Garbage area outside Ellie Bartowski's apartment in Echo Park, Los Angeles, 10:36pm on a weekday**

Stupid sizzling shrimp.

As Chuck practically ran to the garbage can, he remembered buying two orders of sizzling shrimp. One was for him, and one was for Morgan. Morgan never came by the apartment to pick up his portion. Things between him and Anna were going so well that he rushed straight to her apartment after work every day. Sizzling shrimp smelled wonderful when fresh, but putrid after several days in the fridge.

This was the night. This was the night that Sarah and he would finally consummate their relationship. It wasn't something they planned for, but something that happened organically as their relationship grew. Sarah had lowered her emotional barriers in the past month and he really got to know her. The real, fundamental _Sarah_, lying underneath all the cover personalities.

He learned that she was a bit of a geek herself, able to make corny, self-deprecating jokes. He loved how she saw the world when not wearing her spy hat. With Chuck, for the first time since joining the CIA, she was able to not wear her spy hat all the time. The times when they were alone in his room, or in her hotel room, when there was minimal danger were when her personality shined through most. To her credit, she was still all business when on a mission. Her relationship with Chuck actually seemed to bolster her resolve to make sure nothing ill happened to him.

Chuck smiled as he lifted the garbage can lid. He couldn't believe that things were going so well in both his spy life and his personal life. He felt more alive than he ever had. The only thing in his life that compared was his first day at Stanford. That day, his whole life waited ahead of him, and the options were all open.

As he dropped the lid, an image of what Sarah was, or was not wearing at the moment consumed his mind and he turned to run back to the apartment. That's when he felt a small prick on the back of his leg and the world went dark.

**  
Unknown room, Unknown building, Unknown city, Unknown time**

Consciousness returned slowly to Chuck. His body felt heavy, and when he tried to move, he couldn't. His mouth was dry and his saliva had a metallic taste. The only smell he could detect had a faintly chemical character. He heard two men and a woman talking. At first, he thought they were speaking Russian, then Mandarin, then English. The woman's voice triggered a memory in his mind. Still groggy, he couldn't concentrate and let the familiarity of the woman's voice go. He finally opened his eyes and saw bright, blurry light. It instantly magnified the headache he had and made him nauseous. He screwed his eyelids shut. Someone approached and put a straw in his mouth. He tried to fight back, but discovered his hands and feet were bound to a hard chair.

"Water. Drink," commanded the gruff voice in American English.

Not seeing many options at the moment, he took a long swig of warm water. It soothed his throat and eliminated some of the metallic taste in his mouth. He opened his eyes again.

He was better able to focus this time. After a minute or two, he took stock of his situation. No apparent injuries. Tied to a metal chair in a room of unknown size and location. He didn't know what time it was. There was a single bright light directed at his face. He could hear other people in the room but couldn't see them.

"I see you're finally awake"

The female voice again triggered a memory that he couldn't quite follow. He wondered if he was trying to flash and unable to because of some drugs.

Not quite trusting his mouth to speak clearly, he tried anyways. "Wherrrr ammmm I?"

"You are in a dark room in an unknown location."

The voice again clicked in his mind. He was closer this time but still not able to find the memory.

"Charles Irving Bartowski. How have you been, lover?"

The voice finally triggered the memory.

"Jill!?"


	2. The Cavalry Gets the Call

**Chuck and Sarah vs. the Ex, Chapter 2**

Disclaimer: I don't own anything at all related to _Chuck_. No characters, no plots, no themes, no nothing. Enjoy!

**  
Unknown room, Unknown building, Unknown city, Unknown time**

"Jill!?"

Chuck heard footsteps approaching on the concrete floor. Chuck's ex-girlfriend walked close enough that he could now make her out in the light. She was wearing simple blue jeans and a black t-shirt. She reached back and undid her ponytail, allowing her straight, shoulder-length medium brown hair to fall free. She had a good tan going, and Chuck noticed she still had large, smoky, dark brown bottomless pools for eyes. There was something much darker hidden behind them that didn't exist before. She was always a very fit five feet seven inches tall, though he thought he detected a slight limp in her gait. She produced a metal chair, placed it in front of him, and sat.

"If you just wanted to talk, you could have called. Or emailed. Or IM'ed. How about a postcard?"

"I have to admit, Chuckles, it is good to see you. You look like you're doing well for yourself. What's the deal with Buy More though? I figured you would have sold your first game company to EA and be starting your second by now. What happened?

He couldn't stop his anger from rising. "What happened? Are you kidding me?! Weren't you there when IT happened? Weren't you there when Bryce got me kicked out of Stanford? Weren't you there when you broke up with me to start dating Bryce, the guy who just got me kicked out of Stanford? Weren't you there when I had to come home with my tail between my legs? Wait, you weren't there for that one!"

Jill showed no emotion. "You're right, I wasn't there when you had to go home and I apologize for that. I didn't realize how much all those things would affect your life."

"You're sorry. That's it? That's all you have to say?"

"For now. We have more pressing issues to discuss."

"We sure do! Like what the hell am I doing strapped to a chair! What do you want from me?" Chuck maintained a brave, if not convincing front, though he was starting to suspect the very worst.

The truth was as bad as he imagined. "Well, Chuck, you're here because you are the Intersect and the people I work for really, really want what's in your head. And they're going to get what they want. There are really only two things you can do. Nothing, or like it."

**  
Chuck's room; Ellie Bartowski's apartment in Echo Park, Los Angeles, 10:37pm on a weekday**

Sarah was frustrated and somewhat annoyed when Chuck didn't return within a minute.

She had already deployed the sonic scrambler device. Her plan was to take a quick shower when he returned. Then, she would make sure the towel barely covered her naughty bits when he passed her on his way to the shower. She knew he had high expectations of tonight and pushing that tension up a little more was just fun. While he showered, she would don her brand new Victoria's Secret white satin flyaway babydoll. She would place and relight the candles he had used that night they were sleeping together for cover. The stage would then be set for their biggest night together thus far. This night was shaping up to be as meaningful for Sarah as it was for Chuck since it had been a long, long time since she had been honestly intimate with anyone. Over the last month, she had to relearn how to share that part of herself with another and Chuck was the perfect partner for the process. It pleased her to no end that she was able to maintain her spycraft while she developed a real relationship. This was new territory for her and she was hopeful that her current state was in fact, sustainable. For the first time in years, she was completely happy.

After three minutes, her main emotion was anger. Was Chuck teasing her because she told him not to make her wait? If so, she would really push the tension up then make HIM wait in turn. If she knew he would take this long, she could have taken a shower already and been slinking around his room in the immodest bath towel.

After five minutes, alarm bells were ringing in her head. The garbage bins were just outside the apartment and a trash run should never have taken that long. Even without the prospect of sex to follow. Sarah walked out of Chuck's room, through the vacant living room, and into the quiet courtyard. A few steps later, she saw no sign of him around the trash bins. Her senses were now on full alert as she did a quick lap of the apartment complex. She thought that maybe he ran out to the car to get something but both her Porsche 911 Convertible and the Toyota Yaris Nerd Herder were parked and locked. She whipped out her iPhone and called speed dial number one. Straight to voicemail. _Shit._

**  
Agent Casey's apartment; Echo Park, Los Angeles, 10:44pm on a weekday**

Casey barely had time to throw on some sweats after a hot shower when someone began pounding on his door. A quick glance at the surveillance station indicated that the static had begun in Chuck's room and that the video cameras he had placed around the apartment complexes perimeter all showed no unusual activity. One monitor showed an agitated looking Agent Walker was the one causing all the noise at his door. He uncocked his weapon and threw the door open.

"What's got your panties in a bunch, Walker?

Sarah didn't respond and brushed past him into the apartment. "Get the Global Hawk online. Run the locations of Chuck and his phone."

Casey's look of annoyance disappeared instantly as he moved to the workstation and began opening a connection to the UAV.

After the Miller-Johnson operation, Chuck and Nikki had been implanted with miniature locating devices just below their skin in their upper back. The battery limitations of the tiny device meant that it would have to be replaced every six months, and that its low-power signal couldn't be detected by satellite. The signal was detectable from high altitude so the CIA assigned two Global Hawk reconnaissance drones to maintain twenty-four hour/seven days-a-week/three-hundred-sixty-five days-a-year coverage of the Intersect. With twenty-four hour persistence, the drones not only tracked Chuck's implant, they provided Synthetic Aperture Radar, infra-red, and visual surveillance capabilities. Those capabilities had proven very useful on recent operations.

Casey linked up to the Global Hawk and was unable to locate Chuck's iPhone or implant. He ran back the telemetry recording and discovered that they had lost both signals about eight minutes ago. Next, he ran the apartment security camera recordings back ten minutes. They saw Chuck running excitedly out to the garbage bins carrying a bag. He paused after throwing the bag into a bin and they noticed a goofy grin on Chuck's face as he closed the lid. He turned to run back to the apartment when the recordings turned to static. When the picture returned after ten seconds, Chuck was gone.

"How far back did the Global Hawk have eyes on the apartment complex?"

"It wasn't tasked to do anything else tonight so it was following you and Chuck from the Buy More to here. It should show us what happened."

Casey ran back the SAR, IR and visual recordings from the UAV and focused on Chuck as he ran out to the garbage bin. They saw him drop the bag into the bin when he suddenly vanished. Sarah looked at him alarmingly. "Replay that!"

Casey played the recording again and saw the same thing. One moment Chuck was turning to run back in, the next he vanished. "What the hell?!" Casey expanded the view to a six block radius around the apartment complex. They noticed that no cars were in motion before or after Chuck's disappearance. No parked cars were missing after the event.

"See if anyone else has logged into the Global Hawk recently."

Casey opened the UAV's user connection log. Knowledge of the stealthy drone's existence in the L.A. sky was restricted to the highest levels. Access to the drone was restricted to an even smaller subset of that group.

"Ok, here's our current session." One user was currently connected, 18272, which was Casey's username. The log indicated that nine minutes earlier, user 18272 had logged in for eighty five seconds.

"What the...I didn't log in at 22:35! When I got home, I did a quick check for alarms then hopped into the shower!"

"What did 18272 do during the previous login?"

Casey opened the session event log. It was empty.

"Whatever they did, they covered their tracks. Let's see where they logged in from." Casey checked the properties of the previous login. "Damn! They opened the connection using a mil-spec mobile encrypted terminal within ten meters of the apartment complex."

Sarah grew increasingly distressed. She ran a hand down her face. "Knowledge of the Global Hawk's surveillance is highly restricted and the ability to login is even more so. Nobody outside the CIA, NSA, and Air Force should have the capability to hack in like this."

"Not to mention having access to a mil-spec terminal. There's only one organization that can do this."

Sarah fought to control her emotions. If Fulcrum had Chuck, they wouldn't take him unless they knew he was a human Intersect. With that knowledge, there was nothing they wouldn't do to use or destroy him. She shuddered. Fulcrum was not bound by the Geneva Conventions, or any other rules for that matter. She had to find him, fast.

Casey also went through a moment of panic at the thought of what Fulcrum would do to Chuck. He recovered rapidly, and began to focus on the protocols to follow after losing the Intersect. He saw Walker struggling with her emotions.

He looked at her with as kind a look as he could muster. "We'll find him."

She nodded and blinked several times to clear her watery eyes. She took a deep breath and began typing on the keyboard to initiate a video conference with the NSA switchboard controller. A connection was established.

"Identification, alpha-tango-zulu-six-zero-nine-whiskey-bravo."

The controller on-screen typed into her computer. "Verified. Go ahead."

"Set up an emergency video conference with CIA Director Graham and NSA General Beckman. Subject is Buy More Amber Alert."

"Buy More Amber Alert, copy. We will reconnect when ready. Stand by."

**  
Agent Casey's apartment; Echo Park, Los Angeles, 10:53pm on a weekday**

Sarah and Casey stood in front of a split screen showing Director Graham and General Beckman in their respective homes. The agents in Los Angeles had just explained what happened and how they lost Chuck. There was no time for any accusations.

"This is a serious threat. We had no idea Fulcrum knew Chuck's identity, let alone was planning to grab him. Did the NSA detect any chatter, General?"

"We didn't hear anything. It's possible our recent successes again them forced Fulcrum to rely on a new means of communicating outside our SIGINT gathering abilities. It's still early, but our techs have confirmed that false data was fed into the Global Hawk when Chuck was taken. Frankly, we're surprised our defenses were breached. Fulcrum is the only enemy entity with the proficiency and motive to kidnap the Intersect in this fashion."

"We came to the same conclusion," Casey replied. "How do we proceed?'

Director Graham spoke. "A forensics team is en route to your location now to see if any evidence was left behind. If they can hack into a Global Hawk and alter the telemetry, we're not expecting them to have left any incriminating trace. Our techs will continue to investigate the Global Hawk hacking to see if there are any leads there. In the meantime, work every angle you can think of there. You are familiar with Chuck and his life. See if anything turns up. We're also going to be sending you backup."

Sarah's eyes narrowed. She suspected what would come next. "Backup?"

General Beckman answered. "Yes, Nikki Johnson will be on a plane within the hour. Agents Lee and Vazquez will be accompanying her. You two have tactical command over the whole operation. Recovering Chuck intact is our highest priority. We will pass any recent and new Fulcrum related intelligence through Nikki and hope she flashes on something. If recovery proves impossible, then all steps will be taken to prevent Chuck and the knowledge he possesses from remaining in Fulcrum's hands."

"What exactly would that entail, General?" Sarah hesitantly asked.

"It means that we'll drop a JDAM onto a house if we have to."

She gulped reflexively. "Understood."

Director Graham squinted minutely at Sarah before continuing. "You have a ten person TAC team at your disposal on alert fifteen status. A second twenty person team is on alert thirty status. We're also moving two Reapers within range. You'll have access to the full load out of Paveways, Hellfires, and JDAM's. No expense is being spared for this operation, so if you need anything else, ask."

"Any questions?" General Beckman asked.

"I have one," Casey replied. "What are the statistics on Fulcrum abductions, interrogations, and recovery operations?"

Beckman and Graham looked back silently on the screen. "Zero," Graham said.

"Zero?"

"Zero. As in we have never recovered anybody kidnapped by Fulcrum alive. Agent Walker's and Larkin's escape from them was the best we've ever done, and that's because they weren't fully in Fulcrum's custody. As to their interrogation techniques, let's just say that for the people whose bodies we recovered, death was probably the best option. Anything else?"

"No sir."

"No ma'am."

"We'll conference again at oh-nine-hundred your time when Nikki and Agents Lee and Vazquez get up to speed there. Good luck people."

**  
Gulfstream G550; Andrews AFB, Maryland, 2:18am on a weekday**

Nikki buckled her seat belt as the two Rolls-Royce turbofans began spooling up. Agents Lee and Vazquez were facing her across the small table. Nikki smiled.

"Good to see you two again."

"Likewise. We hear you've been doing some good work."

"I'd like to think so. It will take a lot more to undo what my father did. By the way, do you guys think I'll get issued a gun sometime during this mission?"

Agent Vazquez laughed. "I wouldn't ask Agent Walker that. From what I remember, you didn't need a gun to cause some serious damage."

Nikki smirked back. "Just so you know, I am very proficient with firearms. If the need arises, that is."

"Well, we're glad you're on our side this time."

Nikki was genuinely touched as the fight attendant came by to offer food and refreshment. She noticed the well-equipped galley upon boarding so she ordered a double espresso. The agents followed suit.

She knew she would end up working with Chuck again at some point. She didn't think she would be flying back to L.A. to help find and rescue him from Fulcrum. Nikki felt a bit of guilt at knowing that her father helped support the rogue cabal for so long. Maybe if she had done something earlier, Fulcrum wouldn't exist and Chuck would be safe. Maybe she wouldn't have been woken up at her well-equipped and comfortable CIA safehouse and told to get on a plane within thirty minutes. Maybe, maybe, maybe…

She wasn't expecting to get much sleep this morning. She estimated that at least three hours would be spent going over Chuck's abduction and any relevant intelligence. Maybe she could catch an hour or two before landing.

She knew that Agents Walker and Casey had command over this operation. From the handful of times Nikki had spoken to Chuck in the last month, it seemed that she was wrong about her. Maybe Sarah did have genuine feelings for Chuck. If so, she was happy for him. Them. She couldn't help but feel a bit of jealousy. It was something she wouldn't allow to interfere with Chuck's rescue. Maybe Sarah would do the same.

Everyone opened their laptops and started dividing up the stacks of files. The espressos arrived as the door was closed and the plane taxied.


	3. Disclosures and Admissions

**Chuck and Sarah vs. the Ex, Chapter 3**

Disclaimer: Insert boilerplate disclaimer here.

**  
Agent Casey's apartment; Echo Park, Los Angeles, 11:17pm on a weekday**

The forensics team had already come and gone, failing to find a single piece of evidence left by Chuck's abductors. An ad hoc command center was in the process of being set up at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank. Sarah and Casey were due to helicopter out there where they would join about a dozen TAC team personnel. The effort to locate and rescue Chuck would be coordinated out of a hangar leased to Robin Air, in an unused corner of the airport. Robin Air was a CIA front company based in the Caymans. The Reapers would soon join the Global Hawks which were flying out of Edwards AFB. Three other TAC teams were being dispersed around the L.A. area to cut the response time if a lead was found. A fourth team was to maintain an airborne presence. A BOLO was issued to all local law enforcement. Sarah sighed in frustration as all the technology in the world had so far done nothing to find Chuck.

Every minute since the abduction increased the radius of the area that Chuck could have traveled. She wanted to go out, drive a hundred miles-per-hour, kick down a door and shoot, kick, stab, and punch the people who took him. She knew Casey well enough now to sense that he felt likewise. But they remained disciplined and followed their training. Striking out blindly without any leads would be wasteful.

"I'll be right back," she told Casey.

"Where are you going? We're due to leave for the helicopter rendezvous."

"I know. I'll only be a minute. We need to provide a cover story for Ellie."

"You're right. I'd use the primary contingency story if I were you. I'll lock down the apartment. We need to leave in two."

Sarah walked out into the courtyard without acknowledging, softly latching the door behind her.

She instantly got goose bumps from the chilly air. In the seconds it took to cross the courtyard and open Chuck's bedroom window, she was flabbergasted that the night had gone so wrong. She was reminded yet again of how quickly life, especially in her line of work, could turn on a dime. She took a small amount of solace in the knowledge that for the past month, she had stopped wasting time by not being with him.

Silently entering his room, she sadly looked at the unlit candles. As she took in his comforting scent, Sarah desperately hoped that they would get another chance. Their relationship constituted a gray area for an operative. The bosses in D.C. didn't want to hear about it, but they didn't particularly care as long as it didn't get in the way of operational success.

Casey was right, the primary contingency cover would be best. She pulled out a pad and composed a short note to Ellie. The cover story was that Chuck and Sarah impulsively decided to take a few days off work and spend some special couple time getting to know each other better. They both had enough sick time at their mall jobs to get through a few days. Chuck would be sleeping over at Sarah's apartment for the duration. She stealthily went to the kitchen and set the note atop the counter. It crossed her mind that if they didn't find Chuck in a few days, or worse, that they would have to sell another cover story to Ellie. She hoped they didn't have to use that one.

Back in Chuck's room, Sarah quietly packed a duffle bag with some of his clothes. A pair of jeans, T-shirts, and some long-sleeve T's. She also threw in some socks and two pairs of boxers. One of the boxers had the digits of Pi hundreds of digits beyond what was necessary. "Chuck you're such a nerd," she whispered. Her nerd. Her nerd, who didn't deserve or ask for any of this, yet had risen to the occasion time after time and captured her heart. Sarah didn't care if it took the rest of her life, but she would find the people who took Chuck and kill them.

**  
Agent Casey's apartment; Echo Park, Los Angeles, 11:20pm on a weekday**

"Ready to go," Sarah asked.

"Yup."

Sarah's phone buzzed as a message arrived in her secure CIA email account. The message was from _omahacardinal._

"Casey, look!"

"Is that you know who?"

"I think so. Fire up the bigscreen."

Casey powered the computers back up and Sarah was into her email within a minute. There, she found one new message with an attachment.

_  
Dear S,_

_Heard about Amber Alert. May have useful info. C likely taken by F hired gun. Sending all info I have. Working to find more.  
_

Sarah opened the attachment which listed nine different addresses in the L.A. region. She read them off to Casey who mapped them all onto a top-down image

"This is pretty damn spread out, yet all within the range of possibility given the time since they took him."

"It sure is. How reliable do you think the intel is," he asked.

"I'd say highly. Besides, what else do we have to go on?"

"True. I'll split up the TAC teams and scramble them to these eight locations." The locations turned red on the map. "We'll take the closest one," pointing to an address in Monterey Park.

"Aren't we spreading ourselves thin," she questioned. "Our people aren't in place yet so we'd be sending just a few people to each location. If Chuck is at one of these sites, I'd expect Fulcrum to have a lot of protection in place. It might take too long to re-deploy the teams if someone finds him. I wish we could narrow things down…"

A light went off in Casey's head. "Fulcrum uses the same technology and modi operandi we do. If we were to kidnap Chuck, how would we neutralize his locator?"

"Ideally, we'd surgically remove it. Since it hasn't been that long, I'd probably use a portable jammer. Maybe a RACJAM."

"And what's the special characteristic of our little locator?"

Sarah saw where he was going. "It hops frequencies randomly. There should be a tiny window between a frequency hop and the RACJAM adapting. The window would be a few milliseconds. Assuming we're right, a signal of that duration would still be too faint for the UAV to detect. Unless…"

Casey smiled. "Unless, we improve the signal-to-noise ratio."

"Let's do it. I'll make sure the Global Hawk has coverage over the nine addresses. You get on the horn to D.C. and have them coordinate with the local utilities and cellular carriers."

Five minutes and several phone calls later, the pieces were in place.

Sarah gave Casey a thumbs-up, indicating that the Global Hawk had coverage over the nine addresses and that its antennas were listening for any trace of Chuck's locator.

Casey called one more number and said, "Execute."

Six seconds later, the electricity and cellular service of a large part of the Los Angeles basin was shut down. Reducing the 'noise' meant that they had a greater chance of detecting Chuck's locator when it switched frequencies, before the jammer could react. The locator hopped frequencies no less than twenty four times a minute, so they hopefully wouldn't have to wait long to see if they were right.

"Got it," Sarah yelled. "Son of a bitch, he's at the closest address, in Monterey Park!"

Casey said "Terminate" into the phone and ten seconds later, electricity and cellular service was restored. He immediately got on the radio and scrambled all TAC teams to the Monterey Park address. They were ordered to establish a perimeter, and not give away their presence. Sarah tasked the Global Hawk to circle above the Monterey Park address. One of the Reapers inbound to Edwards AFB was diverted to orbit Monterey Park as well. It would be in range in twenty four minutes and was carrying two laser-guided Hellfire missiles, and two two-hundred-fifty pound GPS-guided SDB's.

Casey joined Sarah at his weapons locker as they kitted out. "We should have a perimeter established in thirty five minutes. Let's go catch a chopper ride."

Holstering her Mk23 pistol and slinging an HK416 rifle over her shoulder, she gave him a wry smile and dangled her Porsche keys in front of him. "I can do better."

**  
Unknown room, Unknown building, Unknown city, Unknown time**

"Intersect? What is that, and why would you think I'm that? You said it yourself, I'm just a lowly Buy More employee," Chuck replied. His effort to present a brave face was crumbling by the second.

"Chuck, let's not waste any time. Fulcrum has connected the dots and you're in the middle. Do you know how many Fulcrum operatives have gone missing at your Buy More? We also know all about your bodyguards. Speaking of bodies, it seems that you've been getting frisky with one of them. She's really pretty, but I didn't think you went for blondes. So, have you guys done it yet? Is she as good as I was? Has she found that little spot you like behind…"

"How do you know all of this? And how did you end up as one of the bad guys?"

"As to my choice of employer, that's a story for another time. I'll tell you if you're still alive tomorrow. Your involvement was just a big puzzle that needed to be fit together. You remember how much I love puzzles. Actually, everything was conjecture until you guys raided that empty warehouse. It was nice of you to use the Global Hawk on that op."

"The warehouse was a setup!?"

Jill smiled. "It worked perfectly. We planted false threads of information everywhere. Only the Intersect could piece it together and come up with the warehouse. We borrowed the telemetry of the Global Hawk when you stormed the warehouse and got some great snapshots of you and your handlers. Tell me, Chuck, between you, a trained agent, and another trained agent, who doesn't belong with the other two unless they had something special in their head?"

Chuck looked back at Jill before bursting into laughter.

"You think…you think that the Intersect is in my head!?" He laughed hollowly. "How in the heck could a computer be in my head?"

An instant of doubt crossed Jill's features. "We don't know HOW the Intersect came to be in your head. We do know that both the Alpha and Beta Intersects were destroyed and yet somehow, the government continues to run operations that are possible only if an Intersect exists. When you look at the big picture, everything leads back to you and Bryce. Since you're what we have, we'll work on you."

Chuck didn't like the look on Jill's face. This was clearly not the Jill he knew back at Stanford. The way his life had been going, maybe she never was the person he thought he knew. "What are you going to do with me?"

Jill snapped her fingers and a man of medium build and height emerged from the darkness carrying a large metal briefcase, and another metal chair. He placed the chair next to her, set the briefcase on top, and walked away.

She opened the case but Chuck couldn't see the contents from his seating position. "You packed your dinner in there?"

Jill smiled menacingly and bared her teeth in a manner that reminded Chuck of a lioness playing with her dinner.

"That's good. Humor will make it hurt less."

Chuck got serious. "Maybe if you just asked me some questions, I could help you. If you remember, pain and I don't make good teammates."

Jill didn't reply as she grabbed a rubber hose, cannula, needle, syringe, tape, and multiple vials from the case.

Chuck's eyes widened in panic. "Seriously, what do you want to know?"

Jill produced a switchblade from her pocket and opened it. Chuck tried to move away from her as she approached, but was secured to the chair too tightly. "Nooo…" he managed to whimper.

She stoically stood over him, watching him sweat. She then smiled as she cut away the left sleeve of Chuck's shirt at the shoulder, exposing the length of his arm. His relief was short-lived as she tied the rubber hose around his bicep causing a large vein to pop out on his forearm. She expertly inserted the intravenous cannula into his arm and taped it into place. Chuck was too scared to make a joke about not swabbing his arm with alcohol.

"Ok Chuck, if you cooperate, we don't have to go all the way up the pain scale. If you resist, well, it's going to suck. Let's start off with some SP-13."

Jill withdrew some yellow liquid from one of the vials, inserted the syringe into the cannula, and slowly forced the liquid into Chuck's blood.

"SP-13 is a nice little serum developed by the old KGB. It will help you relax and loosen your tongue. After a few minutes, we can start climbing the ladder. I have six different levels of pain that I can cause. Let's leave the names of the drugs out of it and just call it one through six. They use your body's natural guilt response against itself. Your body knows when you are lying. The more you lie, the more it hurts. I doubt you've been trained to resist truth drugs and interrogation so you are completely vulnerable to this method of questioning. For your reference, level one feels like you have ants walking on the inside of your skin, eyes, and brain. Level three amplifies your nerve receptiveness by a hundred percent so whispers sound like yells, a pinch feels like a bite, and a penlight looks like the sun. I believe level six feels like your bones and organs are being melted by acid and burned at the same time. Relax for minute, we'll get started soon."

**  
Sarah's Porsche; Eastbound I-10, Los Angeles, 11:37pm on a weekday**

Casey's grip tightened on the armrest as Sarah weaved two lanes right then left to cut through a group of cars and semis. He reluctantly admitted to himself that this was proving faster, if not safer than taking a helicopter. A quick glance at the speedometer showed the needle fluctuating between one hundred fifteen and one hundred forty miles-per-hour. He kept quiet to allow her to concentrate on driving. He monitored his PDA which showed the locations of the other TAC teams. They would beat them all there by at least ten minutes. Casey was torn between going straight in, or waiting for backup. He knew what Sarah would do. The road cleared for an instant and Sarah settled in lane number one at one hundred thirty.

"You're not waiting for backup, are you?"

"You're free to come with. We'll take a quick look. If we're grossly outnumbered, then we wait. I figure I can handle five-to-one odds. What about you?"

Not about to let his manhood be questioned, he snorted, "At least five-to-one." His decision was made. They were going in.

**  
Unknown room, Unknown building, Unknown city, Unknown time**

Chuck felt like crying. The sensations were unlike anything he had ever experienced. He realized just how far out of his element he was in Sarah and Casey's world. Jill administered the level one drug a minute ago and he felt like he would scratch himself raw all over his body. If his hands weren't bound. Jill always had a penchant for understatement. It didn't feel like ants were walking around inside his skin. It felt like fire ants were biting him underneath his skin.

"Jill, why are you doing this to me?"

She ignored him and began asking questions. A video camera on a tripod recorded his responses, while a small monitor recorded his heartbeat and blood pressure.

"Is your name Charles Bartowski?"

"You already know my name," Chuck yelled. Apparently, it was not the proper response as it felt like all the fire ants took a simultaneous bite.

"Let's try again. Is your name Charles Bartowski?"

"Yes!" The fire ants just kept walking, but didn't bite.

"Did you attend Stanford University until you were expelled for cheating?"

"Yes."

"Do you still think about me?"

He hesitated, until some of the fire ants began to bite. "Yes."

"Are you the human Intersect?"

Chuck resisted with all his might, even after the fire ants began biting. His mouth was locked tight and he wished he had some sort of mouthpiece to keep him from breaking his own teeth.

Jill stood up and wiggled a vial. "Level two," she said.

The pain continued to escalate and Chuck wondered at what point pain caused unconsciousness. Apparently, it took much more than his current level.

She suddenly jumped up into his face and screamed. "Are you the human Intersect?!"

Chuck bit through the inside of his lip and tasted blood. The number of fire ants biting the inside of his skin, eyes, and brain doubled. He couldn't take any more.

"Yes! Yes!" The ants stopped biting.

"How did you come to possess the Intersect?"

He felt too tired to fight. "Bryce sent it to me. After he destroyed the Alpha Intersect."

"Do you still love me?"

"No."

"Who do you love?"

He tried to resist, but the fire ants began biting again.

"Sarah! I love Sarah Walker!"

Jill circled him. "Hmm, Sarah. Is that the name of your blonde handler?"

"Yes," he spit out with blood.

"Who does she work for?"

"CIA."

"What is your other handler's name?"

"John Casey."

"Who does he work for?"

"NSA."

"Are you sleeping with John or Sarah?"

"No."

She snickered. "Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood. Does the government secretly have another Intersect?" Fulcrum had been taking some significant damage in the last month. After the loss of the Beta Intersect. The number of compromised operations indicated more than one Intersect.

He knew what she would find out if she went down this road. He tried to think of a happy place. Unfortunately, all his happy places had fire ants.

"Chuck, you're still fighting. I guess we'll have to take a step up the ladder." She drew some liquid from the vial into a syringe and approached him.

"No, no, please…"

Without hesitation, Jill injected him with the level two serum.

"If level one felt like tiny little ants, level two takes away the ants and replaces them with big nasty scorpions. And don't worry; these drugs will keep you conscious."

He immediately felt the effects of level two. Once again, Jill's scorpion analogy understated things. He wished he could go back to the fire ants.

Jill returned to her chair, facing him. "Does the government secretly have another Intersect?"

Chuck could only hold out for a few seconds. He wanted to poke his fingers into his eyes to scratch the sensations in his brain.

"Yes," he screamed. He began to drool saliva and blood on his shirt. His wrists began to chafe against his restraints.

"Where is the other Intersect?"

"I don't know. They won't tell me."

"Do you know where Bryce Larkin is?"

"I don't know."

"What is he working on?"

"Taking down Fulcrum."

Jill stood. "That son of a bitch!"

"Yes, he is," Chuck responded.

Jill filled a syringe with liquid from another vial and went to inject Chuck. "No...more…please," he pleaded.

Jill injected him with the clear fluid. "Chuck, this is the anti-serum. It will neutralize what's in your system and you should feel normal again in a few minutes. Take a break while I talk to my superiors. I'll be back." She patted him on the head.

Jill walked back into the darkness and outside the holding room. A dozen Fulcrum operators were waiting. "Well," one asked.

"He's the mother lode," she replied. "He's a human Intersect. The feds have another Intersect stashed somewhere. Bryce Larkin is trying to take Fulcrum down. He's blown the cover of his handlers, and get this, is in love with one of them. After a short break, I'll go back and get everything in his head."

"Excellent work. I'll pass on the intel. We may be able to strike them sooner than planned."

**  
Abandoned retail center; Monterey Park, 11:45pm on a weekday**

Sarah and Casey parked the Porsche two blocks away from the building where Chuck's locator was. It appeared to be a closed-down retail building. They had the Global Hawk scan the area and didn't see anyone. Infra-red detected traces of recent vehicle traffic that ended at the building's gate. They didn't notice any camera or surveillance equipment surrounding the building.

"About ten minutes till the TAC teams arrive," Casey stated.

"Enough time for us to take a look inside. You coming?"

"Of course."

Creeping up to the back entrance of the building, they didn't see any threats through their night-vision goggles. At the back door, they snaked a fiber-optic camera underneath and saw an empty room. Sarah picked the lock, and they entered on the count of three.


	4. Fratricidal Tendencies

**Chuck and Sarah vs. the Ex, Chapter 4**

Disclaimer: Insert boilerplate disclaimer here.

**  
Unknown room, Unknown building, Unknown city, Unknown time**

"Excellent work. I'll pass on the intel. We may be able to strike them sooner than planned."

Jill was about to return to Chuck when one of the Fulcrum operators began furiously punching keys on his laptop. She walked over to him.

"Something wrong, Thompson," she asked.

"Maybe. I just got a tip that an order from high up in Washington went out to L.A. area utilities and cell companies. I'm talking way up, National Command Authority level. Whoa, there it goes. Power and cell service are down." A diesel generator automatically kicked in and they noticed only a brief flash of the lights. "And now, power's back up."

Jill tried to find a reason for the short, intentional power outage. "Why would they cut the electricity and cell systems like that? It was only a few seconds."

"You say that guy in there is the Intersect?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, if he's really that important, then it's possible they could have tagged him."

"He was searched and his phone was boxed up. We didn't find any trackers. And the RACJAM is functioning properly."

Thompson thought for a moment. "Back when I was doing R and D for the Science and Technology Directorate, I saw plans for a prototype tracker. It was a tiny, frequency-hopping bastard, to be implanted under the skin."

Jill countered. "Something that small can't put out a signal strong enough to track from orbit. The range wouldn't be that far."

"Right, the range on the prototype was a kilometer or two. But what if they were able to boost that range? Enough to be picked up from within the atmosphere?"

"The Global Hawk?"

"That would be my guess. There would be a small time window when the tracker changed frequencies and the RACJAM adapted. There's plenty of extra space on a Global Hawk for a tracker receiver. Maybe they killed the power to cut down on the noise."

Jill ran a hand through her hair as she contemplated the possibilities. She had only begun to mine Chuck's mind for information. Considering the ease with which he compromised his handlers and confessed to being one of two Intersects, she didn't envision having to go beyond level three to get it all. The schmuck was poorly equipped to be playing this game. However, underestimating her enemy could be fatal. She paced back and forth several times before deciding.

Stepping up on a chair, she put two fingers into her mouth and whistled.

"Listen up! Our location may have been compromised. Shut down the operation and execute the contingency dispersal plan. Assume all our primary safe houses are burned. In the interim, you're all to stay in quiet mode. Lay low and do not initiate communications of any kind. I will take the Intersect, assess the situation, and contact you with instructions. Let's get out of here in ten minutes!"

The operators immediately began packing up their gear. Jill walked back over to Thompson.

"Any chance you can get back in the Global Hawk? I'd like to see what's going on from up high."

"I tried. Our former comrades figured out how I got in and shut down access. They're watching every signal carefully now."

"It was worth a shot."

Jill turned to walk away when Thompson suddenly yelled, "Wait!"

"What?"

"It looks like another National Command Authority order just went out to local air traffic controllers. They are designating two swaths of prohibited airspace over Monterey Park."

"Two? What else are they sending in?"

"I don't know, but it doesn't make sense to have two Global Hawks orbiting the same area."

"You think they would send an armed drone over a populated area," Jill asked

"If that guy is the Intersect, sure."

She began pacing again, while holding her hand over her mouth.

"Can you gain control of a Predator or Reaper?"

"The security protocols are totally different between the three UAV's. They found my backdoor to the Global Hawk, and the Predator is pretty robust. Since the Reaper is newer and more complex, there are some backdoors I can exploit. Want me to try now?"

"Not yet. Run simulations for now, but don't show your hand. We may need an ace card later."

"I'll get to work," he replied. "Hopefully, it is a Reaper and not a manned aircraft."

Jill turned to return to Chuck when a thought occurred to her. Maybe she could double down her bet.

"Thompson, do we have any clean laptops?"

Pointing to the end of the table, "Sure, there's a bunch over there. Why?"

"I have an idea. Give me a blank DVD."

**  
Abandoned retail center; Monterey Park, 11:53pm on a weekday**

Sarah and Casey cleared several rooms in the dark. The store they were in used to sell TV's only, but was driven out of business by the growth of Buy More and other similar chains. There was one room left to clear. Situated along one of the walls, it was the analog of the Buy More home theater room. There were two windows which were covered by black cloth or paper.

Several minutes earlier than expected, the TAC teams radioed Casey that they had established a perimeter and saw no signs of the enemy. He ordered half of them to enter the building and perform a more thorough search.

As several TAC team members approached from behind, Casey snaked a fiber optic camera under the door to the theater room but didn't see any people, or traps. They executed a tactical entry of the room and cleared it, finding nothing but a single table with a laptop and disc on top.

"Clear," Sarah yelled. "Let's get some lights in here." After confirming that the switches weren't booby-trapped, the entire store was bathed in fluorescent light.

Sarah and Casey approached the laptop on the table. An ordinance disposal expert checked the laptop and declared it safe. Casey opened it causing it to wake from sleep mode. Sarah picked up the disc which had a post-it attached that read 'Play Me.'

The TAC team left the room to search for evidence, leaving the two agents alone. After sharing an anxious look, Sarah handed Casey the disc which he inserted. A video began to play.

Sarah gasped loudly as her hand flew to cover her mouth.

The video showed Chuck in considerable distress, strapped down to a metal chair. A cannula was taped to his left arm and he seemed to be under the influence of some drugs. His eyes were watery and his muscles tense, as he struggled against his restraints to no avail. What affected Sarah so deeply was the total look of fear in his eyes. She had never seen him look that way, though she had induced the same look in many others. _Chuck, where are you?!_

Casey's jaw clenched as he too recognized the fear emanating from Chuck. The same fear that he had also caused in so many others. A female off camera was asking questions.

"_Is your name Charles Bartowski?"_

"_You already know my name."_

With that, Chuck shut his eyes and winced. Sarah stood motionless, struggling to keep watching, unable to look away.

Casey looked at Sarah. Despite his sympathy for her and Chuck, a tiny part of him felt like saying 'I told you so!' This was why it was bad form to get involved with people outside their little circle. When spies slept with spies, they all understood the rules. They knew that any one of them could disappear tomorrow. Civilians could never understand. Casey instantly felt guilty about his thought.

"They look like they're using physiological response drugs on him. The more he resists, the more he hurts. I think there're six levels of drugs."

Sarah didn't respond as the video continued.

"_Let's try again. Is your name Charles Bartowski?"_

"_Yes!"_

"_Did you attend Stanford University until you were expelled for cheating?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Do you still think about me?"_

"_Yes."_

Sarah finally removed her hand from over her mouth. "Who the hell is this bitch and how does Chuck know her?!"

"_Are you the human Intersect?"_

The agents tensed. Their biggest secret, the one they had fought so hard to protect was about to be exposed.

Chuck's eyes flared with anger for an instant before the pain overcame his senses. They could see him fighting as hard as he could. His jaw was locked tight as he struggled. Sarah willed him to hold out. _C'mon Chuck…_

A female hand entered the camera's view, shaking a vial.

"_Level two."_

_My god,_ Sarah thought. _There are six levels._

They saw the back of the female as she suddenly jumped into Chuck's face and screamed.

"_Are you the human Intersect?!"_

They heard the beeping from Chuck's heart monitor speed up. _C'mon Chuck… _they both willed.

With his eyes looking like they were about to pop out, he finally screamed.

"_Yes! Yes!" _

"Fuck," Sarah said softly.

"_How did you come to possess the Intersect?"_

Chuck seemed to have lost the will to fight.

"_Bryce sent it to me. After he destroyed the Alpha Intersect."_

"Fuck," Casey yelled.

"_Do you still love me?"_

"_No."_

Sarah's head jerked back in surprise. "Do you still love me? Who has Chuck loved? There's only one woman he loved…"

"_Who do you love?"_

Chuck's eyes regained their fire as he began to fight again. Despite herself, Sarah felt a rush of adrenaline at the prospect of his answer. As much as she wanted him to fight his torturer, she also wanted to hear him say her name. Chuck continued to hold out as his level of pain obviously increased. He finally gave in.

"_Sarah! I love Sarah Walker!"_

Sarah gasped as her hand flew back to cover her mouth and the tears began to flow. She had longed to hear him say those words. It would be the first time in her life that someone had said it and meant it. She half-expected him to have said it this very night, in his bedroom.

Casey looked sympathetically at her. Bad form or not, nobody should have to experience this. He resolved to find this bitch who was torturing the Intersect and rip her throat out.

The female circled Chuck, but her face stayed out of sight.

"_Hmm, Sarah. Is that the name of your blonde handler?"_

"_Yes."_ This time blood accompanied the answer from his mouth.

"_Who does she work for?"_

"_CIA."_

"_What is your other handler's name?"_

"_John Casey."_

"_Who does he work for?"_

"_NSA."_

"_Are you sleeping with John or Sarah?"_

"_No."_

"_Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood. Does the government secretly have another Intersect?" _

Sarah couldn't contain her anger and frustration. "Who the fuck is this sadistic bitch?! I'm going to tear her apart!"

"Whoever she is, she and Fulcrum know a whole lot."

Chuck tried to resist but was visibly weakened from his earlier ordeal.

"_Chuck, you're still fighting. I guess we'll have to take a step up the ladder." _

"_No, no, please…"_

Sarah's heart broke as she saw Chuck pleading. Her tears were streaming down her cheeks.

They watched his torturer inject the level two drug. Casey twitched at the thought of what Chuck was experiencing. Sarah was getting close to losing control.

"_If level one felt like tiny little ants, level two takes away the ants and replaces them with big nasty scorpions. And don't worry; these drugs will keep you conscious."_

Chuck stopped blinking as he entered a new realm of pain. His heart monitor sped up dramatically.

"_Does the government secretly have another Intersect?"_

They could see his wrists turn red against the restraints. He only held out for a few seconds.

"_Yes!"_

Saliva and blood mixed and began to drip from his mouth to his shirt. Sarah's anger was replaced by abject worry. Instead of thinking about killing the bitch on camera, she hoped that Chuck was actually still alive. And that they didn't have to watch him die on camera.

"_Where is the other Intersect?"_

"_I don't know. They won't tell me." _

"_Do you know where Bryce Larkin is?"_

"_I don't know."_

"_What is he working on?"_

"_Taking down Fulcrum."_

"_That son of a bitch!"_

"_Yes, he is."_

Sarah yelled, "She knows Bryce! It has to be her! She's the only one it could be!"

The female on camera filled a syringe with another liquid and approached Chuck.

"_No...more…please."_

"Mother Fu…" Casey stopped short as the video went dark.

The face of Chuck's abductor suddenly appeared on the video. She was an attractive Caucasian female with straight brown hair, and large, dark brown eyes. Sarah and Casey instantly detected the coldness in her stare.

"_In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm the ex-girlfriend. Chuck and I have decided to get back together. It's true love, you see. Sarah, if you're watching this, it never would have worked out between you two. Chuck has never gotten over me and so he can't really love you. It's such a shame you two never got a chance to sleep together. I gotta say, Chuck may be a dork, but he can take care of business in bed. I guess you'll never find out though. Since I'm so far ahead of you feds in this game, I've decided to throw you a bone. And in case you haven't figured it out, the name is Jill, bitch. Enjoy."_

A slideshow of images of file folders and papers began cycling on the screen. Sarah and Casey couldn't see the details of the files.

Casey was confused. "What the hell is this? Why would she let us know what she knows, then leave incriminating files?"

Sarah didn't respond. She distantly heard Casey speaking.

"Walker!"

She finally snapped out of her shock.

"What!?"

"What the hell is going on here? Why would she show us the interrogation video and leave what could be useful files?"

Sarah could only memorize Jill's face as it burned into her memory. She was going to take her down no matter what. Jill would never be safe anywhere.

"I don't know. It makes no sense to leave this here for us if she has a head start. Why jeopardize that?"

They continued to look at the files cycling through the screen. They didn't see any reason for leaving them this presentation.

"Casey, how long have we been here?"

He checked his watch. "Watching this video? At least ten minutes and counting."

"Shit, she's stalling us! The video was bait! She's got us just standing around here!"

Casey immediately got on his radio. "Evacuate the building! Evacuate the building!"

They sprinted out of the room and were following the TAC team members out to the exit when they heard a whistle that kept growing louder. Two seconds later, they saw a flash and heard a tremendous bang. They experienced weightlessness as they were lifted off their feet before losing consciousness.

**  
Gulfstream G550; somewhere over Kentucky, 3:39am on a weekday**

Nikki Johnson and Agents Lee and Vazquez had gone over the preliminary reports of Chuck's abduction. The operation had Fulcrum's fingerprints all over it. Nikki had looked at a lot of intel and had flashed a few times. She came up with the locations of a few Fulcrum safe houses in the L.A. area, the names and dossiers of some Fulcrum operators, and some information about a KGB truth serum. Nothing more concrete. Her head was beginning to hurt and she contemplated taking a short nap. She noticed the agents were wearing down too.

She reclined her seat as her eyes began to droop when the large video screen in the front of the cabin suddenly came alive with the Department of Defense logo. Agent Vazquez tapped a button on her armrest and the faces of Director Graham and General Beckman appeared on a split screen. At this hour, they looked justifiably weary, but there was something else. Nikki and the agents expected to hear some bad news.

General Beckman began. "Approximately thirty minutes ago, Agents Walker and Casey followed up a lead on Bartowski's possible location. They traced him to a closed retail store in Monterey Park. Several TAC teams were deployed as well to provide backup. Fulcrum set the store up as a trap and used our own resources against us, again."

Director Graham continued. "Even though we eliminated the vulnerability in our Global Hawk, Fulcrum was able to gain access to an armed Reaper that was providing air support…" He stopped short, as if in shock. He cleared his throat and resumed.

"Fulcrum took control of the Reaper and targeted the Global Hawk with a Hellfire missile. It damaged the drone, forcing it to return to Edwards. They then targeted the store where Agents Walker and Casey were, along with the TAC teams. The Reaper dropped two two-hundred-fifty pound SDB's on the building, demolishing it. We're trying to assess casualties at the moment, but it's likely that we lost a lot."

"Have Agents Walker and Casey been accounted for," Agent Lee asked.

"Not at this time."

General Beckman stepped in. "Lee and Vazquez, if Walker and Casey are unable to lead this operation, you will take charge when you land in L.A. We don't know if Bartowski has been compromised, but it's highly likely. If you cannot rescue him quickly, you are to terminate him. We still have one Intersect in our possession. The more time that elapses, the greater the risk Bartowski's knowledge poses to us. We will contact you when we receive more information. Carry on."


	5. Vans and Voids

**Chuck and Sarah vs. the Ex, Chapter 5**

Disclaimer: Insert boilerplate disclaimer here.

**  
White Dodge van; Southbound I-110, Los Angeles, 12:19am**

Chuck closed his eyes and prayed that this was all just a nightmare. Unfortunately, he didn't wake up in his bed. Through the enhanced sensors of the Reaper that Thompson hijacked, he had seen Sarah and Casey cautiously approach the building they were just at. They were too late. Jill could have killed them right away, but she assumed correctly that several more agents would arrive and create a more target-rich environment. He suspected Jill left something distracting that held the agents' attention, like ants swarming spilled sugar. Despite his pleas to Jill, Chuck was unable to prevent the two bombs from being dropped precisely on target. He would have tried to hit them with his fists, or break the militarized laptop Thompson was using, but zip cuffs around his wrists and ankles locked him to his seat. Before the CIA, NSA, or whoever regained control of their UAV, Chuck was able to see in infra-red, the aftermath of the attack. The remains were a hot, tangled mess and no human figures were seen escaping the building before the impact. Casey was dead. Sarah was dead. They died because of him. He killed Sarah.

Casey and especially Sarah had always been there to rescue him. He knew that no matter how badly he screwed up, or how much trouble he got into, one of them would always find him and that he would end his night in his bedroom, selling another lie to his family and friends, but safe for another day. With Sarah and Casey gone, all hope of rescue disappeared. Beckman and Graham still had Nikki, and they would probably cut their losses, protect her, and try and get rid of him. They had to assume that the Intersect had been compromised. It's what he would assume. And it was true. At least Sarah didn't die before they expressed their feelings for each other. Their 'real' relationship had only existed for a month, but it was the best month of his life. He hoped that Sarah had enjoyed his company as much as he had hers. He wished he could have told Sarah in person that he loved her instead of confessing it to Jill.

Surprisingly, the only lingering effect of his chemical interrogation was some tingling in his fingertips, legs, and toes. He would never forget the pain though. Jill finished looking at something on Thompson's laptop and sat next to Chuck.

"What the hell do you want now," he spat at her.

Jill smiled and put her hand on his knee. He ineffectually tried to move away. "Chuck, don't be so mad. You know that none of this is personal, right?"

He glared at her. "Wrong. This is completely personal for me! How many more people are you going to kill? How many more people that I care about have to die?"

Jill pondered his question. "Well, you do live with your sister, right? Isn't she getting married? And does your old pal Morgan still ride your coattails?"

"You leave them the hell out of this!"

She patted his knee. "Don't get so wound up. We have no need for them, at the moment. Why are you so hung up about Sarah anyways? Do you know how naïve you are to fall for a CIA agent? She's just playing you. They're trained to seduce and make it seem real."

"I've heard this before. It was real, believe me."

"Sure…I believe you. I believe that you think it's real. Take it from me Chuck; falling in love with a CIA agent will ruin your life."

Before he could ask his next question, she moved back to Thompson's side. He overheard some snippets of their whispering.

"Target…surveil…confirm…"

"Strike…alpha…on schedule…"

"Standby…go…code…execute…"

Jill checked her watch, patted Thompson on the shoulder and returned to Chuck's side.

Despite his grief and the dire circumstances, he couldn't resist asking. "The thing you said about falling in love with a CIA agent…are you talking from experience?"

She regarded him with narrowed eyes as painful memories came back to the forefront.

"Yeah, I'm talking about Bryce." She moved back to Thompson's side to look at the laptop's display.

**  
Black Ford van; Falls Church, VA, 3:24am**

"Bartlett, any change in orders?"

"Negative. We're to maintain surveillance. No action to be taken at this time."

"Roger that. Want to grab a few winks? I'll wake you if anything happens."

"Cool man, thanks."

The Fulcrum operator raised his infra-red binoculars to his eyes and confirmed that Director Graham's silver Chrysler 300 was still in the driveway. The lights remained on in his home office.

**  
White Dodge van; Southbound I-5, Los Angeles, 12:31am**

The black BMW M6 trailed the White Dodge van by several car lengths. In the light early morning traffic, a tail had to be more cautious about not being discovered, especially by trained eyes.

He had arrived late at the Monterey Park building. As he crept up, he saw eight identical white vans driving away. It was a way to spoof any satellite or aerial surveillance and to overwhelm any ground pursuit. He had no way of knowing which van contained the Intersect. The lead Fulcrum operator would also be in that van.

He memorized the license plates he could see as he trailed the line of vans north to I-10, where two of them went east, and six went west. Playing the odds, he stayed with the westbound group.

At the I-710 interchange, two vans merged onto I-710 south. He stayed with the four on westbound I-10.

At the I-5 interchange, two went north on I-5 and two continued on the now combined I-5 and I-10. Going with his gut, he followed the two going south.

At the next interchange where the freeways split up, one of the vans proceeded westbound on I-10, the other south on I-5. His gut was telling him to follow both vans. He decided to follow the I-10 van, but changed his mind at the last second and followed the I-5 one.

Traffic thinned and he began to regret his decision. There was only one way to find out if he had chosen wisely.

He accelerated and quickly approached the van from the right. Without giving the van's occupants time to react, he opened his window as he pulled even with the van's front right wheel. A single bullet was fired from his silenced forty-caliber Glock that found its mark. He braked hard and followed closely as the van swerved from the sudden flat tire and weaved across two lanes. Unable to continue, the van pulled off the freeway at the next exit and moved off to the side at the end of the ramp. The BMW M6 followed behind, it's lights completely extinguished.

Before the van even came to a complete stop, The M6's driver had exited and ran around to the driver's door, with the silenced pistol trained on the driver. Without exchanging a word, the driver raised his hands, and unlatched the door. He was quickly pulled to the ground, and forced to lie face down. A look inside the van revealed that the driver was the only person inside. The Intersect was elsewhere.

**  
Demolished retail center; Monterey Park, 12:38am on a weekday**

Sarah's eyes snapped open. As her mind began to think clearly, her last memory came back. The building had blown up and she remembered flying through the air. She blinked her eyes and still saw darkness. Panic set in as she began to think she was dead and she was now staring at the eternal darkness of death. The fear caused a rush of adrenaline to flood her body and she took a deep breath. Conscious of her breathing for the first time, she struggled to inhale but a great weight was pressing down on her. As her senses returned to her, she felt relieved. She was still alive. Unfortunately, it seemed that she was buried alive.

Nerves all over her body began to register pain. Another sure sign she was still alive. She could feel hot, smelly air blowing over her face and neck. Finally able to free her left arm, she reached into her left pant pocket and retrieved a small flashlight. Clicking the switch, she saw what was causing her breathing problems.

"Casey!"

Casey was lying directly on top of Sarah. The hot air she felt and smelled was his breath.

"Casey! I know you're alive. Wake up!"

She could barely see his face in the dim light and his head positioned over her shoulder just out of sight, but she thought she saw blood under all the dust.

"Casey! Casey!" She snapped her head sideways to jar him and banged his nose. She felt him stir. "Casey, wake the fuck up!"

"Grrrrr…"

"Good. You're conscious. WAKE UP," she screamed.

"Wrrgrraah…" She felt his breathing rhythm change as he worked through the grogginess. After an eternity, he finally spoke coherently.

"Saaraaaah?"

"Yes, it's me. Were you snacking on onions earlier? You're breath is freakin killing me here!"

After another eternity, he sheepishly answered. "I didn't have time to brush and floss when you barged into my apartment. I don't have halitosis."

"That's not what Carina says. Ok, you're finally awake. Can you tell if you're injured? Can you move?"

"All I feel is pain. I think I can move though. Let me try."

With great effort, he was able to move his arms and legs. They discovered that a piece of heavy plywood was lying on top of them both. They had escaped any bone breaks and limb loss. Through coordinated effort, they shifted the wood to the side and finally gained themselves some room to work. Casey rolled off of Sarah and examined their surroundings with his flashlight. They apparently had been lucky enough to end up in a void within the demolished building.

"Thanks for finally letting me breathe, Casey."

"No problem. I didn't want your boyfriend to catch us in such a compromising position. I'm sure he would have kicked my ass."

"He surely would have." She sat up and took in their environment. She tried her radio but heard only static.

Casey felt around the edges of the small void. "I can't get a cell signal in here either." The edges of their space were a jumbled mess of bent rebar, concrete, wood, and plaster. Loud creaks and bangs accompanied regular puffs of dust from the ceiling. There was about four feet of headroom in the roughly ten by ten foot space.

Sarah completed her own inspection of their space. "Find any weak spots? I want to get out of here before getting crushed."

A piece of plaster fell painfully on Casey's shoulder. "Here, help me over here."

She crawled next to him and they began pulling away loose pieces of debris. They eventually uncovered a ragged looking path that could provide a possible exit. They didn't have time to debate the exit's suitability as the void began to collapse. Not knowing where it led, and with a cloud of dust following them, Sarah and Casey clawed their way through the passageway.

**  
White Dodge van; Southbound I-110, Los Angeles, 12:39am**

Jill finished her business with Thompson and sat next to Chuck again. He looked to her like a man that had just lost the love of his life. She pitied him for falling for a CIA agent's cover.

"Where were we," she asked.

He looked at her. In the dim light, she could see great fury and sadness in his watery, red rimmed eyes. She suspected that normally gentle Chuck would actually strangle her right now if given the chance. "You were about to tell me how you ended up working for Fulcrum and what Bryce has to do with all this and why you broke up with me and dated my old best friend."

"Nice try, Chuck." She thought for a few seconds. "You know what, telling you won't affect the operation now. What the hell."

He thought of all the questions he wanted to ask. It helped to distract him slightly from thinking about losing Sarah. About being responsible for Sarah's death. He would probably be joining her in the afterlife soon anyways. He couldn't decide which question to start with. "Well," he asked simply.

"Well." She took a deep breath. "Let's start from your expulsion. I knew about it before it happened. Bryce came to me and told me this crazy story about him being in the CIA and that they were going to recruit you next. He concocted this plan to get you expelled by making it look like you cheated on a test. He didn't want them to get their hands on you. He knew that you were too kind, too soft for the company. After he finally proved to me that he was a CIA recruit, I had to agree with him. There was no way I wanted you joining the CIA. In order to make sure you stayed away from Stanford and the CIA's grasp, I was supposed to break up with you and pretend to date Bryce. Looking back now, how ironic is it that you ended up as the centerpiece of the CIA's entire box of tools?"

"You knew! You knew before it happened?"

"I did. Like I said, you definitely weren't CIA material. And there's no way I wanted you to be in the CIA. So I stayed quiet and played along as he planted the evidence. I pretended to break up with you and date Bryce. Everything went according to plan, in the beginning."

Chuck had a hard time coping with the truth. "Pretended? Beginning?"

Jill sighed. "Yes, Chuck. Choosing Bryce over you was just supposed to be an act. Once you got back to L.A. and got back on your feet, I was going to come down and tell you I had broken up with Bryce and beg you to take me back. I'm betting you would have taken me back, right?"

He wanted to say no, but answered truthfully. "Yeah."

"Well, that was the plan, but something happened. Bryce seduced me."

"What?!"

"It's true. You remember the three of us were inseparable. We all had so much in common. I thought I was doing the right thing for you by playing my role with him. But the more time we spent together selling our cover, the more I began to fall for him. You remember what a stud he was back then. Track star, gymnast, smart, funny, charismatic."

"And I was awkward, dorky, boring, and clumsy."

Jill looked at him with a bit of sympathy before continuing. "I began to love the idea of being with a guy like him. On top of it all, he was a CIA recruit. He offered a life with intrigue and excitement. Before I knew it, I had fallen for him and never went down to L.A. to get back together with you. Eventually, our cover became my reality."

"It seems to me that you fell for him, not that he seduced you!"

"That's exactly what it's supposed to seem like. Even though he was just starting his CIA career then, he already knew how to manipulate people. Specifically, how to manipulate the opposite sex into doing what he wanted, while making them think the idea originated with them. Think about Sarah, Chuck. See any parallels?"

Chuck couldn't believe that Jill sounded exactly like Nikki. They both questioned Sarah's true feelings. He used to revisit all of his interactions with Sarah under the assumption that her feelings were fake, and pretend that her intentions were to control and manipulate him. He had concluded that it was a definite possibility. But over the last month, Sarah would have had to have been a much better actress then he believed she could be. The feelings he felt for her were too real and too deep. No way. He banished any doubts from his mind, feeling guilty that he even suspected that his now dead girlfriend's feelings were anything but real.

"Sarah and me were real. Are still real."

Jill tsk-tsked him. "It's your heart. If living in a fantasy world makes you feel better, more power to you. Anyway, things went well between Bryce and me until graduation. Sure it was hard dealing with all the accusing looks around school, but we were together and I didn't care what others thought."

"How lovely. So you blame falling for my best friend on him, and now you kill people."

"I'm not finished yet. After graduation, he disappeared. I never got a good-bye, never got a call, never got an email. One day we were walking around Palo Alto talking about moving to wherever the CIA was going to train him and starting a life. The next day, I was all alone with no way to contact him. I can only draw one conclusion from that. That he seduced me to make sure that you never returned to Stanford or had any connections to your past. He never had true feelings for me and his being my boyfriend was just a cover he assumed. He took advantage of me without feeling anything for me. It's twisted, but from that perspective, he really was a true and loyal friend to you."

Chuck tried to process all the revelations.

"Stupid me, I still hadn't figured out that he was just using me. I was in love. So, I applied to work for the CIA as a Technical Analyst. They hired me. I thought I could find out where he was once I got inside."

"You were CIA," Chuck asked.

"Yup. Eventually, I got a job in D.C. focusing on the opium trade and its influence on Central Asian terrorism. I made some discreet inquiries but never found anything out about Bryce. He was a NOC agent. I naively clung to the hope that he would some day show up at my cubicle."

"But he didn't, of course."

"Nope. In the meantime, I began to distinguish myself through my work. I eventually got sent out into the field. The CIA discovered some evidence in Afghanistan that they wanted me to see right away. I was excited."

"Ok, I don't see how getting sent to Afghanistan in the middle of a war could be exciting. But, continue."

"So I'm riding in this three humvee convoy of Green Berets out to a village in the middle of nowhere to meet this CIA operative who uncovered a big find. Lo and behold, I get out of the humvee and am greeted by none other than Bryce Larkin. My first thought was that he had requested me to come out to meet him, but that was stupid. It was just fate randomly playing games with our lives."

"Then what happened?"

"He pretended he didn't know me in front of the soldiers. Once we were alone, he played it very cool, as if we had never been lovers. As if we were still the friends we were before you got expelled. That's when I finally realized that he had seduced me as part of his plan."

"Did you confront him about it," Chuck asked. He couldn't help but be fascinated by Jill's story.

"Never got the chance. We immediately began taking mortar and small arms fire. The opium boys weren't happy with our snooping. We piled into the humvees and bugged out. Unfortunately, not everyone made it. I was in the third vehicle when it got hit by an RPG. We rolled down a small cliff and the fire was too heavy for the other two vehicles to help. I was the only survivor. By the time the air support Apaches showed up, I was gone."

For the first time, Chuck noticed a softening of Jill's façade. He caught a glance of the warm, fun, loving Jill he used to know. She shut it down quickly and returned to her tale.

"I was mostly uninjured and taken to a compound along one of the opium routes. The warlord there was pleased to have captured a CIA agent. Especially a female one. They wanted to know what the CIA knew about them so they interrogated me. It wasn't fun."

Jill began tearing up. Chuck waited.

"After a week, I wished that I was dead. I won't even tell you the worst of what they did, but imagine the worst things that could happen to a woman."

Despite her brutality, he felt a little sympathy for her. "I'm sorry that happened to you. Is that why you have the limp?"

"You noticed. They were creative in their use of electricity. One bastard went too far and damaged the nerves in my leg."

Jill took a few seconds before continuing.

"I dreamed that Bryce would drop into the compound and rescue me from those animals. That he would kill them all. But he never showed up. Nobody did. I grew up at that moment and realized how I had been used and discarded by Bryce, by the CIA, and by my country. I stopped seeing the distinction between us and them. To them, we were the enemy who was invading them and bombing their cities. We are all just pawns in the game."

"How did you get out then?"

"One day, during another Q and A session, some guy walked in and began asking me questions in a southern accent. Southern as in Georgia or Alabama. He offered me a deal that I couldn't refuse. He told me that the CIA had presumed I was dead and that no rescue would be forthcoming. He told me that he worked for a small group of people inside the U.S. government who were trying to change things for the better. They were working to get rid of all the corruption and give power to the people who could get things done. He offered to get me out of there and bring me back home if I worked for them. I would be a contractor that they could call in when they needed help. Since I was presumed dead, I would have a whole new identity and had to leave my old life, friends, and family behind. I didn't really give a shit about his cause. I still don't. I did appreciate the opportunity to get out of that hellhole and reinvent myself. I no longer had any loyalty to anyone but myself. I'm the only person I can really trust. I asked him where to sign."

"So, you signed a deal with the devil," Chuck questioned.

"What would you have done? Would you have stayed there and endured the beatings, electrocution, and rape?"

Chuck had to admit to himself that it was an impossible choice to make. A choice with a clear cut answer. "I would have done the same thing."

"Thank you! So before I knew it, I was back in the states as a new person. Fulcrum trained me on field ops and I discovered that I was pretty good at it. I learned how to fight, how to shoot, how to plan operations, and how to kill. I learned how to do dead drops. How to seduce. I finally learned how Bryce did what he did to me."

"Why didn't you just go to the CIA when you got back and tell them what happened to you?"

"I don't owe them anything. They owe me things that I can never get back! In my world, I'm all there is. Me, myself, and I. If I get a little revenge against the CIA, why not? If I can get a lot of revenge against Bryce Larkin, why not?"

"Jill, in spite of everything that you've done tonight, I am sorry you had to go through all that."

"Thank you, Chuck. You always were a good listener. Now that you know what turned me into a mean, heartless bitch, don't think I'll hesitate for an instant to do anything to you that will advance me toward my objective. The Jill you used to know died in Afghanistan."

**  
White Dodge van; Side of I-5 off-ramp, Los Angeles, 12:41am**

It didn't take him long to get the information he needed out of the Fulcrum operator. He couldn't believe that he was so close to the Intersect, that he was only one van off. He should have stayed on I-10!

He restrained the Fulcrum operator in the back of the disabled van. After hitting the man's pressure points multiple times, he learned that the Intersect had divulged the truth of his role, as well as the identities of Sarah and Casey. He didn't fault him for giving up the information so quickly. The Intersect wasn't a trained agent.

Slicing the soles of the man's feet with his knife got him even more information. He got a description of the Fulcrum contractor running this operation. He threatened to slice the man's hamstrings just to confirm the description of the woman. The man's descriptions seemed legitimate.

He sent an encrypted text of his situation and location to his superiors with orders to pick up and further interrogate the man in the van. As he sped up the on ramp to I-5 north, he shook his head. If the Fulcrum operator was to be believed, the contractor running the op was a ghost.

**  
Demolished retail center; Monterey Park, 12:47am on a weekday**

Sarah and Casey had escaped the collapse of the void and crawled out into a much larger one. They were barely able to stand up straight in some parts, while others had a ceiling they couldn't touch. Their radios crackled to life and they heard the rescue workers communicating with each other. They successfully contacted them and their location was soon calculated. In minutes, they heard the sounds of the workers clearing rubble get closer. The bombs had collapsed the building into its basement and they were almost ten feet below street level.

"Looks like we're getting out of another scrape, partner," Sarah joked.

"I can't believe that babysitting Chuck has turned into such an exciting assignment. I've never been in more life-threatening situations before," Casey observed.

"Tell me about it. It used to be that missions were all about stealth and deception. I'd be in and out of a country in forty eight hours. Sometimes, without having to kill anyone."

Casey smirked in the dim light of their flashlights. "Don't tell me you're not having the best time of your life though."

Sarah tried to maintain her serious look, but cracked into a huge smile. "I am. And so are you."

Floodlight illumination suddenly broke into their void, as the rescue team knocked down some wall rubble. They were about eight feet above. "Walker, Casey! Are you there?"

"We're here!"

"We'll have you out in a minute. Hold tight."

"Well, Sarah, what now?"

"I'll tell you what now. You and I are going to rescue Chuck, destroy Fulcrum, and I'm going to personally beat the shit out of Jill before I kill her."

"Good plan!"

More light entered as the rescue team created a hole big enough to fit a person through.

Just then, the roof of the void began to collapse.

The rescue team didn't even have time to lower a ladder or rope. "Walker, Casey, the roof is collapsing!"

Sarah and Casey looked at each other in alarm. Casey grabbed the straps of Sarah's utility vest. "Go save your boyfriend." He then did a half turn and threw Sarah up towards the light of their exit. Sarah reached up and grabbed the hands of the rescue workers through the opening. They all pulled hard and she soon found herself lying outside on the street, out of danger. A huge crash sounded and a massive volume of dust blew through the hole she just came through.

Sarah leaped up and screamed into the hole. "Casey!"


	6. Unwanted Rest

_Props to Go-Chuck-Go for the beta and the ideas. Now on with the story..._

* * *

**Chuck and Sarah vs. the Ex, Chapter 6**

**  
Blue GMC van; Westbound I-105, Los Angeles, 1:05am**

Chuck and Jill hadn't spoken much since her disclosure to him about their breakup. He thought back again and again to their happy days at Stanford, and to less happy days more recently. He revised his own history with the new information that she had provided and came to a disturbing conclusion. He had let Jill, Bryce, the CIA, Buy More, and so many other external forces define his life. They set the parameters of his existence. The breakup with Jill forced him to withdraw into a social shell for years. Bryce's betrayal kept him at an underpaid and unstimulating job. His role at Buy More was defined by his co-workers, none of whom had majored in computer science at Stanford. The CIA was to blame for both Jill's and Bryce's betrayals. Bryce had redefined Chuck's world a second time when he sent the Intersect. The CIA finally did something good by sending Sarah. He still hadn't added up all the ways she had changed his world, but they were all for the better. As Jill and Thompson continued to huddle over their laptop, Chuck resolved not to let Sarah have died in vain. He was going to do something and make a difference, even if he didn't have much longer to live.

Still restrained to his seat, Chuck didn't move when Jill moved over to his side holding what looked like a yellow video camera.

"Lean forward a bit," she asked.

"Why? What is that thing?"

"Think of me as your doctor. I'm trying to make sure you don't have any parasites."

Chuck hesitated.

"I'm not going to ask again." The look on her face convinced Chuck to save his effort for another battle.

He leaned forward giving Jill room to point the device at his upper back. He heard a whine as it powered up and felt its contact.

"Find anything?"

"Not yet. So far you look healthy."

"What is that thing?"

After moving it around, she found what she was looking for. "A-ha!"

"What?"

"Something that shouldn't be there. This will only take a second. Let me know if you feel your lungs cooking."

The whine of the device got much louder until he felt a tiny shock as the portable X-Ray destroyed the micro-circuitry of his implanted tracker.

"You're cured now. And we can't be found."

**  
Parking Lot; W. Century Blvd. and S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, 1:06am**

After coercing the information from the Fulcrum agent, he contacted the LAPD and CHP and asked their help to locate a white Dodge van with the license plate he had memorized. They couldn't have had much of a head start on him. It didn't take long for the LAPD to find the van in a parking lot at the corner of West Century and South Figueroa. They were ordered to maintain surveillance but not to approach until his arrival.

With LAPD backup, he made his approach and found the van empty. The hood was still warm. LAPD ran the plates and to no ones surprise, they were stolen. There was no traffic camera nearby, and satellite surveillance didn't exist. The UAV's they were relying on were now out of commission.

The trail cold, he decided to use his trump card. He was going to call in a favor he had hoped never to use. It had taken a great deal of time and effort to cultivate this resource. He placed the call.

**  
Demolished retail center; Monterey Park, 1:08am on a weekday**

"You, bring that light over there and start digging. The ceiling was higher in that section."

Sarah directed the rescue workers using her memory of the configuration of the void. Hopefully, some part of it didn't collapse. Everyone worked as fast as they could. They all knew that the odds of finding Casey alive diminished with every minute.

"Agent Walker, you have a call." A CIA agent ran up holding out a phone.

"Unless it's the President, or one other person, I don't have time to take a call! I need to rescue my partner and then rescue my boyfrien…my asset."

"It's Director Graham."

Calming down slightly, she took a deep breath and grabbed the phone.

"Sir?"

"Sarah, how are you doing? The medic on site said you're not allowing her to check you out. She suspects that you sustained another concussion, among other things."

She felt light-headed and nauseous. It was likely that she did have a concussion. She willed herself to concentrate.

"I'll survive, sir. Right now, the priority is to rescue Agent Casey from the rubble. Then, we can get back on the trail and rescue Chuck."

"Sarah, listen to yourself. Are you going to do all those things by yourself?"

"Well…no, of course not. I'm directing the rescue effort here since I have firsthand knowledge of the collapsed building from the inside."

"Why don't you go have the medic check you out? If you're cleared, you can get back to finding Agent Casey."

"Sir, I'm perfectly capable of leading the search. We can't waste a second."

"Agent Walker, there are first responders on the scene who are trained far better than you at digging someone out of a collapsed building. If you've described the layout of the void you were in to them, there's nothing more you can do at the moment. I really think you should let the medic look you over."

"I'll get checked out once we find Casey. I can continue until then," she adamantly replied.

Graham sounded concerned. "I really think you should take a step back. You just had two bombs dropped on you and were buried in a building. That's more stress than anyone, even one of the best can handle."

Sarah began to get annoyed by director's insistence that she stop helping the search effort. Her emotions were ragged after losing Chuck, seeing him tortured, hearing him confess his love for her, getting bombed and buried, then looking into Casey's eyes as he sacrificed himself so that she could live. She knew that she had to keep fighting every second, until she physically couldn't. She felt she was far from that point and took offense at the director's perceived underestimation of her.

Her tone betrayed her growing irritation as she answered him. "I am fully capable of discerning what my limitations are. I assure you that I am nowhere near them. I'd like to get back to the search. Every second could make a difference." She hesitantly added, "Sir."

Graham didn't budge. "Sarah, what is the protocol for CIA operatives who survive a life-threatening experience?"

If he was going to play by the book, she would lose this argument. She decided she didn't care. She was not going to stop searching for Chuck and Casey.

"I know what the protocol is. And I'm telling you I can keep going without a checkup."

"And I'm telling you that you are impaired. I can hear your voice slurring. You're trying your best to disguise it, but it's not enough. Are you dizzy? Do you feel like vomiting? It doesn't serve Agent Casey's or Chuck's interests to have you continue in this state. You're running on fumes. Emotional fumes."

Sarah felt her blood boil and saw stars in her vision. "I am not running on fumes and I am not being emotional! Iammm…" She cursed herself for losing focus and letting Graham hear her slur. "I…am…not…being emotional. I think that I'm following the most rational course of action given…given these circumstances. You're the one who's not being rational."

The director refused to give any ground. "Sarah, you know better than that."

She exploded. "I don't care what you say. You can't make me quit the search. I won't stop until I find Chuck!"

"We had suspicions that you were too close to this assignment, but looked the other way as long as you could do your job. Perhaps we should have reassigned you."

She couldn't believe that he was questioning her professionalism. What she had developed with Chuck had only strengthened her motivation to protect the Intersect. Now they were judging her because she wanted to rescue her partner. And because she wanted to save the man she loved.

"How dare you, sir! I have always done whatever it takes to accomplish my mission! And I usually succeed, except when bureaucrats and pencil pushers get in my way!"

"Careful, Agent Walker," Graham growled. "You don't want to go there."

"I'm sorry sir, but I can't waste any more time talking." She snapped the phone shut, and threw it into the building's rubble. She got back to trying to find Casey. If she didn't find him soon, she was going to have to leave to pick up Chuck's trail.

**  
Blue GMC van; Northbound I-405, Los Angeles, 1:10am**

"Jill, where the hell are you taking me?" Chuck figured he didn't have anything to lose by asking.

She answered with a sweet smile. "I have a really nice place on the coast. You'll love it."

"No, I don't think I will."

"You're right, I was just kidding. We're going to take some more drugs. Actually, you'll be the only one doing drugs. You're going to get the chance to tell me everything. Like what you've been doing the past few months. What do you know about CIA and NSA operations? What agents have infiltrated Fulcrum? Stuff like that…"

Chuck looked away, out of the window into the darkness. He didn't want to betray his country and he certainly didn't want to feel the effects of the truth drugs again. He had to come up with a way to do something, anything. At the moment he was powerless. He felt a wave of sadness come over him as he imagined Sarah swooping in at the last second to rescue him. Not this time. This time he had to save himself. She had sacrificed her life to try and protect him. He couldn't, he wouldn't let her death be meaningless.

**  
Black BMW M6; Northbound I-110, Los Angeles, 1:14am**

Cruising at ninety-five miles-per-hour, he answered the phone on the third ring. The caller ID was blocked.

"Who's this?"

"You should know. You called me."

"Of course I did. I need some information fast. I'm willing to cash in all my chips."

Bryce felt a pang of regret at having to use his greatest asset inside Fulcrum. He had spent months working on turning the man. An unknown number of people had died as a result, but it was at least four. Was saving Chuck worth it?

He decided that Chuck was worth it. Bryce got Chuck into this whole mess despite his efforts not to. His sense of honor won out over years of emotional callousness and serving mission objectives.

"Wow, something serious has to be going down. Oh yeah, it must be the fact that your ex has kidnapped her ex and is now on the run. Sorry to hear about your ex though, the other one. She was always a fine piece."

"I don't have time for games. Stop being cryptic. What do you mean sorry to hear about my ex?"

"That's right, you're out of the loop. Lone wolf doing his own thing. Well, I heard that your old ex hijacked a Reaper and dropped two bombs onto your more recent ex. Haven't heard whether she survived or not. Such a shame."

He suddenly felt a chill as fear overwhelmed him. Could Sarah be dead? Could it have happened so quickly without him sensing it? He always felt they shared a deeper bond than just being partners. Deeper than normal lovers. Deeper than…

"Hah, just kidding! I heard Agent Walker survived the bombing. Don't know about that NSA executioner partner though. I had you just then, didn't I?"

Bryce instantly felt relief. And rage. "You son of a bitch! You are going to tell me what I want to know, or I am going to burn you to hell."

"Burn me and I'll burn you back. You know how the game is played. Let's be civil here."

"Then tell me what I want to know."

"Let's be clear on the terms first. If I tell you what you're looking for, then I'm free from owing you anything. You'll never contact me again."

"That's correct. You'll be off the hook."

The man took a moment to contemplate the deal. "Ok, Bryce, done. What you're looking for, Agent Walker has."

"What?"

"Agent Walker has the answer you're looking for. Go ask her."

"You're not living up to your part of the deal. Tell me where the Intersect is being taken!"

"I can't. If I told you that, then you'd go there and everyone would know who told you. I need a little time to prepare. Just go ask Agent Walker where she likes to make love as the sun sets."

"What? You're not making any sense! Why should I uphold my part of the deal?"

"Because I just gave you more than anybody else will. You have no leads. You wouldn't have called me if you had anything that was remotely promising."

Bryce remained silent. He was right.

"So we're good then," the man asked.

Bryce didn't answer for a minute. "Yeah, we're good."

"Goodbye Bryce. Have a nice life."

**  
Demolished retail center; Monterey Park, 1:18am on a weekday**

Sarah remembered Casey's last words to her. 'Go save your boyfriend.' She was about to do just that and leave the rescue effort. Director Graham hadn't called back, but she suspected that he would make her life very difficult.

"We found something!"

She ran over to the man who was viewing the ground-penetrating radar display.

"What did you find?"

He pointed to a tiny anomaly on the screen. "This looks like a little alcove, big enough for a man."

She didn't hesitate. "Everyone! Get digging around…" she confirmed the location on the screen. She pointed. "There!"

As the workers dug, Sarah scanned the area with an infra red camera, looking for any hot spots. After several feet of rubble were removed, she detected a heat source.

"I have something on IR!"

The rescuers worked as fast as possible. Eventually, they unearthed the top of a small space. The IR camera measured something at about thirty seven degrees Celsius. Lights were pointed into the area.

Sarah quickly but carefully approached the area, cognizant of the debris' instability.

"Casey! Casey! Can you hear me?"

There was no response.

The workers kept digging around the tiny void until someone spotted something that didn't blend in with the concrete, steel, and wood rubble. Red blood.

"I found him!"

It seemed that Casey had pressed himself flush against the earlier void's wall after he threw Sarah out. Whether it was his thick skull, or providence, something had kept that small spot from collapsing. It didn't prevent chunks of debris from striking him or crushing him against the wall though.

It didn't take long for enough room to be made to pull him up and out. The closest rescue worker took his pulse and declared it somewhat weak.

Sarah felt a wave of relief as Casey was finally lifted free from the building and placed on a stretcher. He was unconscious, but the medic hadn't detected any broken bones. After cleaning off the dust, she could see several gashes in his head. He probably had a concussion too.

The medic declared, "We have to take him to the hospital immediately to perform a more thorough examination."

"Where are you taking him?"

"A chopper is going to bring us to Cedars-Sinai. We'll use the CIA's closed-off high-security area there."

"Good. Call me when you have any news on his status." Sarah began to turn to run.

"Whoa! You're coming with. You need to get checked out too! You probably have a concussion."

"I'm fine! I have something very important to do. I'll come in for a checkup afterwards."

The medic was about to argue when an agent ran to Sarah holding out a phone.

"Director Graham for you, ma'am."

Sarah closed her eyes and tilted her head back in frustration. She immediately felt dizzy and wanted to vomit. She forced herself to focus as she took the phone.

"Sir, Agent Casey has been found alive. He's going to the hospital now."

"Yes, Agent Walker, I heard the good news. I think it would be a good idea for you to accompany him."

Sarah didn't want to fight this battle again. She decided to try acting compliant. "I appreciate your concern sir. I assure you that I will go in for a checkup as soon as I find Chuck."

"I was afraid you'd say that. The Intersect is no longer your concern at the moment."

Acting complaint went out the window as her emotions got the best of her. "No longer my concern!? Since when?"

"We've decided to bench you and Agent Casey, temporarily. Once you are medically cleared, you can get back into the mix. Agents Lee and Vazquez will take interim command of the operation when they land with Nikki."

The dizziness she was feeling increased considerably. She struggled to think clearly and keep it together.

"No, sir! I will not relinquish command of this operation until Chuck is safe and back in our care. I can…"

The hair on her neck stood up as she sensed danger approaching. She dropped the phone and was about to take a quick look all around her when the medic plunged the syringe hard into her thigh. The medic would have been seriously injured by Sarah's reaction if the drug hadn't been so fast acting. The agent who brought the phone caught her as she collapsed and with the medic's help, loaded her onto a stretcher.

**  
Gulfstream G550; somewhere over Oklahoma, 3:30am on a weekday**

Nikki was awakened by the beeping of an incoming video conference. Agents Lee and Vazquez looked like they were startled from sleep as well. Agent Vazquez hit a button and Director Graham's face appeared.

He spoke without preamble. "We finally have some good news. Agents Walker and Casey survived the bombing. They're on the way to the hospital now."

"That's great news," Agent Lee said.

Graham gave no emotional response. "Lee and Vazquez, you will take charge of this operation when you land. Walker and Casey are in no shape to do so."

The three exchanged quizzical looks with each other that didn't go unnoticed by Graham.

"How seriously were they injured," Agent Vazquez asked.

"Amazingly, they have no broken bones. It looks like lots of cuts and bruises at this time, with probable concussions."

"Those two must have had some serious head trauma to relinquish command to us," Agent Vazquez observed.

Graham's eyes flashed. "Those two did not relinquish command. I took it from them and am now giving it to you. Is that clear?"

After worried side glances, the agents responded.

"Yes sir!"

"Crystal, sir!"

"Very well. We have lost all tracking of Bartowski. Your primary mission is to find and terminate him, and all Fulcrum operatives who have had contact with, or knowledge of him. We have to contain this as best we can. We don't have the luxury of second chances. When you find him, our quickest option will be to eliminate him and any Fulcrum operatives in his proximity. We don't have time to plan rescue missions and risk information leakage. You three should get back to your naps. You won't be sleeping once you land."

Nikki knew she wouldn't be getting any more sleep.


	7. Can't Stop Now

**Chuck and Sarah vs. the Ex, Chapter 7**

**  
Restricted CIA area; Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, 1:49am on a weekday**

The nurse at the entry desk was expecting two unconscious patients. She received the call ten minutes ago and had prepared a single room for the two to share. There were already nine patients in seven rooms and she only had a single room vacant. It must have been a busy time in black ops.

Her husband was a CIA consultant who frequently traveled overseas. She didn't know he worked for the CIA before he proposed, and never suspected that their trips to China, Indonesia, India, and Vietnam were anything more than tourism. She wasn't shocked when he proposed to her, but was taken aback by the non-disclosure agreement he then asked her to sign. He assured her that she wouldn't notice any difference in their life and she hadn't, except that her imagination ran wild every time they went abroad. Nine years and two kids later, he asked her to work at a new high security area being set up at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. The CIA was setting up a small facility where covert operatives could receive the finest care in the L.A. area. Being married to him for nine years sped up the vetting process. She had now been working at the facility for three years and thought of it as just another job.

Other three-letter agencies used the facility as well. At the moment, there were five CIA agents, one NSA agent, one DIA agent, one Delta Force operator, and one fellow whose employer was unknown. Apparently, there had been some incident in Monterey Park that morning and two partners were on the way in. One worked for the CIA, and one for the NSA. In her experience, it was rare for two agents from the sometimes cooperating, often competing agencies to work together.

An email arrived from Washington with the relevant medical files for the two partners. The CIA agent was named Sarah Walker, or at least answered to that name at the moment. Sixty percent of her medical file was blacked out. Five feet nine inches tall, blonde hair, blue eyes. Recent concussion. Past broken ribs, leg, arm, fingers. Various puncture wounds. The NSA agent was Major John Casey. Fifty percent of his file was blacked out. Six feet four inches tall, dark brown hair, blue eyes. Also had broken ribs in the past. Gunshot wounds. Puncture wounds. Concussions. Ruptured eardrum. These two had seen some action.

She heard the helicopter approaching the rooftop helipad. Her patients were about to arrive. She paged the on-call doctor so he could receive them immediately. It was just another night on the job.

**  
Black BMW M6; Westbound I-10, Los Angeles, 2:05am on a weekday**

Following his unsatisfying conversation with his Fulcrum asset, Bryce decided to head west to the coast. He was out of leads and could think of no way to pick up Chuck's trail.

He was going to have to get in touch with Sarah. He would have to come up from his deep, dark world where almost everyone thought he was dead.

Repeated calls to Sarah's phone went straight to voicemail. He had no reason to distrust the Fulcrum asset's word about her survival of the Reaper bombing. He still felt fear at not being able to reach her, even though he knew it was irrational. Calls to Casey's cell also led to voicemail. He would have to call D.C. He dialed Director Graham.

"This is Graham."

"Whiskey tango foxtrot mike foxtrot"

It was quiet for five seconds before Graham replied. "The line is secure. It's been a while."

"I've been busy. I was on the trail of the Intersect but it went cold. I need to contact Sarah."

"Why do you need to reach her? You're risking your cover by even contacting me."

"She may be able to help me find the Intersect's location."

"If you have some information on the Intersect's location, you need to tell me."

Bryce immediately sensed that something was amiss. "I don't have anything solid and I'd rather not say over the phone. If you could tell me where Sarah is, or how to contact her, I can get results faster out here."

Graham remained silent once again fueling Bryce's fear that Sarah was dead. He tried but failed to push the feeling away.

"Sarah is indisposed at the moment, along with Major Casey. They were injured during a failed attempt to rescue the Intersect."

Bryce let out a breath he didn't know he was holding when he heard that Sarah was still alive. "How badly was she hurt? Is she in a hospital?"

"They are being taken to the secure medical facility. They still need to be examined. They're both unconscious at the moment."

"How badly was she hurt," Bryce asked again.

"Early signs point to another concussion. She may also be suffering from shock."

Shock? Sarah? Bryce was surprised. Sarah was one of the most stable agents he knew, as long as she kept her emotions in check. And she was usually very good at that.

"I need to see her."

"You can see her later. She's unconscious at the moment and will be for several hours. The medic on the scene had to sedate her to calm her down."

"You had her sedated!?"

"She was displaying symptoms of shock as well as being insubordinate. We had to temporarily remove her from command. She may be too emotionally involved with this whole operation."

Bryce thought that Graham was talking about a complete stranger. Sarah being in shock was hard enough to believe, but emotionally involved with the mission? What did that mean? He was sure that she would not be happy about being benched.

"Who's in command now?"

"Agents Lee and Vazquez are flying in. Their mission will be to locate the Intersect and plan an elimination strike. We don't have time to plot rescue missions and can't risk any more information leakage."

Now, Bryce was shocked. They wanted to kill Chuck. He couldn't let that happen. He knew what he was going to do, but he asked Graham anyways.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Keep working your leads. If you get any decent information on the Intersect's location, let me know. I'll contact you when Agent Walker wakes up and put you in contact. You're not to contact anybody else. The fewer people who know you're alive, the better."

Bryce disconnected the call. He was sticking to his plan. "Roger that."

**  
Carbon Beach, Malibu, 2:17am on a weekday**

At this hour, the neighborhood was deserted as the van pulled into the garage. The billionaires and celebrities who lived along the valuable strip of beach cherished their privacy. Most of them weren't even home, since they only used their multi-million dollar beachside estates as weekend getaways. If any noise escaped the sound-proof mansion, it would likely be chalked up to a party that got a little wild, which was par for the area.

Chuck was taken to the living room which had a large glass façade facing the dark ocean. Thompson made him sit in something that resembled a dentist's chair, only with ankle, wrist, and head straps. Thompson left the room after he was securely restrained.

"Jill, if you lived so close, why didn't you ever invite me over for a party," Chuck quipped nervously.

She completed her inspection of the room. "I would have if the house was mine. It belongs to a friend of a friend. The guy behind the guy."

"Does this guy behind the guy have a name?"

"He does, but it's one you don't have to worry your curly haired head over." She cupped his cheek then ran her fingers through his hair.

Chuck fought his urge to shrink from her touch. He had to at least look strong if he was going to survive, and escape. Pushing his fear aside for a moment, he asked himself what Sarah would have done in his place. He looked around the room and scanned for anything that could be used as a weapon. He saw a table with tray on top that held various medical instruments. He could use one of them as a knife. The chair he was in was bolted down so that couldn't be used. He saw a big TV in one corner, some glass vases on a glass table, and a glass coffee table. There was a stack of folding chairs. What would Sarah have done?

Thompson returned with a familiar metal briefcase. Jill sat in front of Chuck on one of the folding chairs. She opened the briefcase and began removing the vials of drugs. "Well Chuckie, let's take it from the top. We shouldn't have any interruptions this time."

**  
Restricted CIA area; Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, 2:39am on a weekday**

"Linda, is that you," the friendly masculine voice on the phone greeted.

It only took her a second to recognize the caller. She was sure it wasn't his real name, but it was all she had. "Johnnie! You don't call, you don't write! I must say that it's been a while since I've seen you so you must be doing well. I'm glad you're staying out of the line of fire. What's up?"

"I have been glad to stay out of your unit there, but I must admit that I miss your bedside manner. Listen, I have a little favor to ask."

"Sure, you were always one of our nicest patients. What is it?"

"I need to know if you got some new patients this morning."

"We always get new patients, hun. You know I can't get into details. It could cost me my job."

"I understand. But I really need to find out if someone I know is there. It's very important that I learn their condition. They…she really means a lot to me. Can you help me?"

"I don't know what else I can say without giving specifics."

"Hmm…how about we have a little fun then. Cough once for yes, twice for no. Are you game?"

Linda thought about what 'Johnnie' was asking her to do. It could have serious repercussions to her career if something went awry. She couldn't think of what could though. The CIA area of the hospital was under the constant surveillance and had the highest level of security. Nobody had ever gotten in or out by mistake. Johnnie was a really sweet guy and he sounded like he just wanted to know if someone he cared about was fine. She couldn't fault the guy for that. She got a look at Agent Walker when she was brought in and suspected that Johnnie was talking about her. Even unconscious and covered with dust and grime, she was a very pretty girl. Linda thought that Johnnie and Sarah made a terrific looking couple. Who was she to stand in the way of love? She coughed once.

"I owe you, Linda. Did two patients just arrive, a tall blonde female, and an even taller male?"

She coughed once.

"Does the female's name rhyme with, oh…Charah?"

Linda hesitated upon hearing the strange name. She figured it rhymed closely enough.

She coughed once.

It must have pleased Johnnie since his voice immediately sounded more cheerful. "Are the female's injuries serious?"

Even though the doctor hadn't finished his complete workup on Agent Walker yet, Linda knew that so far, she only had a concussion. She was also under sedation so she must have pissed off someone upstairs. It wasn't uncommon to receive sedated patients in this unit. Linda coughed twice.

Johnnie sounded even happier. "Thank you Linda. You're a real lifesaver. I mean that literally."

As Linda hung up the phone, she couldn't help but smile. It was refreshing to see young people in love. People in their line of work deserved some happiness.

**  
Carbon Beach, Malibu, 3:22am on a weekday**

Jill was slightly impressed by Chuck. In contrast to his first exposure to the physiological response drugs, he was remarkably silent this time around. Sure, he eventually gave up the information she sought, but he disguised his pain and discomfort relatively well. He didn't plead once. Back at Stanford, she always thought he had great potential, but seeing his life since then convinced her that she was wrong. Maybe it was time to reevaluate that judgment. It had taken level three of the drugs to really loosen his tongue.

Chuck fought back with everything he had. He sympathized with Jill for what she had gone through. She had some bad breaks. He also knew that given the chance, he would strangle her with his bare hands. She had killed Sarah. _Sarah. Sarah..._ He loved how her name sounded. _Chuck and Sarah sitting in a tree… _He kept repeating her name in his mind along with a mantra he recently created to keep him sane through the level three drug. _Go Chuck Go. Go Chuck Go…_

His clothes were soaked through with sweat. He had been drooling blood and saliva from his mouth for the past twenty minutes, but Jill didn't let up. She got what she wanted. She gave him the anti-serum and left to join Thompson in the adjoining room. She was going to give Chuck twenty minutes to recover. He probably still had a lot of information in that big brain of his and she didn't want to break him this early.

Thompson looked up from his laptop when she approached. "Well?"

"He is the real deal. He gave up most of their operations since he became the Intersect. They took down a lot of people over the past few months. It was an accident that he got the Intersect in his skull, but it's worked better than anyone could have imagined."

"So you're not going to kill him anymore?"

"I'm thinking about it. He may be more valuable to us alive. We don't know if his abilities are unique, or can be taught. He could be the only one of his kind in the world, but with research, we could identify other possible candidates."

"So how much longer are you going to mine him?"

"As long as it takes. I still need to learn about their operations over the past month or two, and get more detail on the chain of command. We want to make sure that our strike is total and devastating."

"Speaking of which, Bartlett is on the line."

Jill picked up the phone. "Bartlett?"

"I'm here. Any change in orders?"

"Not at the moment, but we may be moving the timetable up. Stay alert for any changes. Has Graham moved?"

"No, he's still in his home office. You must be keeping him busy."

"I'm trying." She couldn't hide her smile. "I'll be in contact if the situation changes. Carry on." She gave Thompson the phone back.

"What's our status on the rest of Operation T-Shadow," she asked.

"Our tails are all still active and hidden. In addition to Graham, we have eyes on the directors of the CIA, DIA, NRO, FBI, and Secret Service."

"Good. A few more hours with Chuck and we can guarantee Fulcrum's success. In about an hour, can you bring in the special device?"

"You think it will work?"

"I don't think it will hurt," she answered. "It gives us a bit of an insurance policy too."

**  
Gulfstream G550; somewhere over Arizona, 4:50am on a weekday**

Agents Lee and Vazquez had been busy since the last video conference with Director Graham. They had a great deal more responsibility now that they were in command and were constantly on the phone coordinating with agents in L.A.

Nikki dove into another set of data hoping to flash on something useful. She only had one small flash so far and it was peripheral to matters. She couldn't believe that Chuck's ex-girlfriend, Jill was at the top of the suspect list. Sarah had the CIA run a full workup on her once she escaped the demolished building. Chuck apparently had a history with government agents that went way back beyond Agent Walker. She wondered how things would have turned out differently for him had he gone into the CIA out of college. She wondered if they would have ever met and how her life could be different. Excepting the current crisis, she was happy to have met Chuck the way she did.

"We'll be wheels down in about an hour. We'll helicopter over to Cedars-Sinai and get a quick briefing. Then, we'll meet with Agents Walker and Casey. Hopefully, they'll be awake by then," Agent Vazquez said.

"Are we really going to try and kill Chuck," Nikki asked

"Unfortunately, yes. Those are our orders. I know it will be difficult for you, but just remember we're serving the greater good in all this."

"I'll try and keep that in mind," Nikki quietly answered. She stared out the window into the blackness. She needed some comfort food at the moment. A full stack of pancakes would be perfect…

**  
Back Entrance; Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, 5:39am on a weekday**

He had tried to shake loose any leads on Chuck's whereabouts but struck out. Nobody would give him any useful information, or they just didn't know anything. Fulcrum was running a well-compartmentalized operation. He was going to have to find out where Sarah liked to make love as the sun set. Whatever that meant.

Bryce procured a set of scrubs and attached a counterfeit hospital ID. He parked outside the loading dock for about twenty minutes, watching how hospital employees moved in and out. They all spoke to a man behind a glass window. He would have to talk his way in. The CIA facility inside was under the tightest security. He was looking forward to seeing Sarah again.

He approached the window casually and removed his ID badge to hand to the guard behind the window, as he had seen the others do. He was caught unaware by the edge of the ID and almost fumbled it.

"Be careful, man. Those cards can cut you. They're as sharp as a marble."

"I hear you…" Bryce strained to read the guard's ID badge. "Bill."

"That's me. Bill at work. So, Robby, why haven't I seen you out here before?"

"I'm just a fill-in. There's a bout of the runs circulating through the move team. They had to call for temps at the last minute for replacements."

"A-ha…"

Bryce spotted a CD on the man's desk. "Hey, you listen to Notorious JMG too?"

"JMG? What are you smoking dude? It's BIG. Notorious B.I.G. And yeah, I listen to Biggie. Somehow, you don't strike me as a guy who does."

"I don't," Bryce quickly countered. "I have a buddy who does. He was real sad back in '97 when Biggie got killed."

"That was sad. I listen to him and Tupac. I never understood their beef."

Bryce watched as Bill carefully looked over his ID. He saw that Bill was very alert and good at his job.

"That's a very natty uniform you have there, Bill. Is that standard issue? Something looks different about yours."

"You have a good eye! My wife presses them all herself, after I get them back from the cleaners. She's a real stickler for crisp clothes."

"Sounds like a good woman."

"She is…she truly is." Bill looked at Bryce one more time before handing back his ID.

"Well, you're good to go Robby. Don't hurt your back moving any giant patients around. Do you know where to go?"

"I can find my way. Thanks Bill."


	8. First Reunion

**Chuck and Sarah vs. the Ex, Chapter 8**

**  
Carbon Beach, Malibu, 5:45am on a weekday**

Jill had subjected Chuck to two round-trip sessions of drug-induced questioning. Both times, she had gone up to level three. She sedated him for almost an hour in between sessions to give his body a chance to rest. Continual usage of the drugs was potentially lethal. Chuck revealed a wealth of information about the successes of Agents Casey, Walker, and the Intersect. He was in the middle of a third session at level three when she started asking questions about his more recent operations.

"Chuck, I have to say, your tolerance of the drugs is impressive," Jill admitted. "For such an amateur that is."

"Glad that I meet your expectations," Chuck hissed. His once white shirt was now stained with sweat, blood, and saliva. His pants felt wet too, but he was reasonably sure he hadn't wet himself. "Let's get on with this. You're wasting my time. I have an early shift later today."

"Bravo, Chuck! I see you're still up for some witty repartee! It's always more fun when a subject has a good sense of humor. Ok, let's continue. How did you make contact with Nikki Johnson?"

He knew this moment would eventually come. He had been racking his brain for hours trying to think of a way to protect Nikki's ability. It seemed to be the one thing that Jill had no inkling about and he didn't want to expose her secret to Fulcrum. Having two Human Intersects was one of the intelligence communities most closely guarded secrets. Chuck remained silent as the pain increased.

The best way he had found to resist Jill's questions was to visualize himself with Sarah. At the beach. At Buy More. In the back of a van during a stakeout. By her side as they ran for their lives. Most of all, in his bedroom. He couldn't stop imagining what things would have been like in his room just a few hours earlier if Jill and Fulcrum hadn't taken him. He guessed that Sarah would have taken a quick shower while he cleaned up his room a bit and lit some candles. He would have passed her on his way to the bathroom for his own shower and she would be barely covered by her towel, on purpose of course. Her long, slim, perfectly formed legs always drove him nuts. They would have been wrapped around him in short order. He probably would have had to take a cold shower just to stay conscious until he returned to her in his room. Chuck knew that Sarah bought a new Victoria's Secret babydoll when she caught him glancing at it in a store window at the mall and imagining it on her. She didn't know that he caught her noticing his glances. Being around spies all the time had rubbed off a bit on him.

He now imagined having had to force himself to walk, not run back to his room after his cold shower. He would have thrown the door open and seen her standing confidently in the babydoll on her bare feet, legs slightly apart, facing him in front of his TV and _Oldboy_ poster. She would have had one arm straight, and the other bent and resting on her hip, with a distinct swivel to that side. He would have looked her up and down, taking in every inch of exposed skin. She would have had a slight downward tilt to her head, blue eyes wide and pupils fully dilated as they looked up at him in the soft candlelight. One eyebrow would have been arched and she would have had a small smile that was at the same time enticing and challenging.

"I've waited too long for this," she would have said in a husky tone.

Chuck would have closed the gap between them in two steps, and then stopped just short of touching her body. He would have felt the heat rising from her skin against his bare chest. He would have looked down at her as she slowly looked up at him and their eyes locked. He would have noticed the heaving of her chest as Sarah's breathing became hitched from their closeness. She would have reached up and gently cupped his face. Her touch would have felt like a hot iron to his skin. It would have unlocked the feeling of pure sunshine flowing through his veins. In that instant, all self-control would have left his mind and he would have fully been in the moment, with no thoughts of the past or future. Sinking into her touch, Sarah would have yanked the towel wrapped around his waist away. It would have been doing a poor job of hiding his current condition anyways. He would have yielded to her gentle tugging of his face down towards hers.

Before they kissed, Sarah would have whispered, "I want you right now. More than anyone or anything else."

Their lips finally would have met, and both would have felt the electricity flowing back and forth between them. The initially gentle, loving kiss would quickly have turned insistent and desperate as they crushed their bodies together and stumbled to the bed with one of her legs wrapped around his. Chuck would have tried to get Sarah's babydoll and panties off of her in order to maximize the skin contact between them. They would have continued kissing, lips burning and swelling from the chaotic contact as they pressed their bodies against each other as hard as they could. Their tongues would have performed a frenzied dance, flicking, probing, caressing, and tasting. With her help, Chuck would have finally gotten her clothes off. He would have stepped back for a second to admire her as she wore nothing but a smile. Unable to resist contact for long, their bodies would once again have become entangled. Each of their bodies ached for release from desires that had been denied for too long. As they would have fallen onto the bed, Sarah would have said, "I love…"

"How did you make contact with Nikki Johnson?"

Chuck snapped back to reality and pain. He was shocked to find Jill straddling him with her arms around his neck. He tried to move away ineffectively. She had apparently been kissing him.

"I see you're back in the present." She turned to the side and spit out some blood and saliva that she had taken from his mouth. Jill moved in to kiss him again, but he turned his face away and she placed butterfly kisses against his check instead.

"Very good technique, Chuck. I'm guessing you were imagining an intimate Sarah moment just now. It's actually a technique that professionals are taught to resist torture. Unfortunately, I know how to break through that kind of thinking." She cupped both of his cheeks. He couldn't prevent himself from blushing. Memories of being with Jill at Stanford mixed with his imaginings of being with Sarah.

"Too bad you'll never find out what it's like to touch Sarah; since she's dead. I do hope you're not a necrophilliac. How did you make contact with Nikki Johnson?"

The pain he felt kept increasing. He lost the little edge he had when he was thinking about Sarah. He couldn't resist.

"She made contact with me."

"Hmm, interesting. Why?"

The words came out of him as if his willpower was completely absent.

"She wanted to turn me. Recruit me into Miller-Johnson."

"What would you have done for Miller-Johnson, Chuck?"

He had become an observer, listening to his own words betray everything. If he tried to interject, the pain forced him back.

"We would have worked together. Verified each other's flashes."

Jill's body snapped back. Her eyes widened and darted around as she put the pieces together. He could tell when she got it. She used to have the same reaction to learning new things at Stanford.

"Is Nikki Johnson the government's other Intersect?"

Chuck tried to bite his tongue, but Nikki forced her lips onto his and her tongue into his mouth. Thoughts of heated evenings with Jill in the Stanford dorms came rushing back. Images of what could never be with Sarah flew into his mind's eye. Before he knew it, he had answered a muffled "yeeepphhhsss" into Jill's mouth.

She leaned back, breaking contact. Slowly, a smile crept across her face. She dismounted Chuck, and turned to spit out his blood and saliva. She grabbed the vial of the anti-serum and filled a syringe.

"Chuck, you're just full of surprises. Maybe I can do something about reuniting you and Nikki, since she's on her way out here to L.A."

**  
Bob Hope Airport, Burbank, 5:55am on a weekday**

As the Gulfstream touched down, Nikki was glad to end what felt like the longest flight of her life. Agents Vazquez and Lee opened the door before the plane stopped rolling and flew down the stairs as soon as it stopped. Nikki followed them down and into the back seat of a waiting Suburban. They were driven to the nearby command center.

When they arrived, Vazquez and Lee got a five minute update on the current situation. Nothing was news to Nikki. Chuck's location was unknown and they were to terminate him once his location was discovered. Collateral damage was not a major concern and civilian lives could be sacrificed. Agents Walker and Casey were in the hospital and were still unconscious. They had amazingly escaped serious injury, but had suffered enough damage to be out of action for a while. Nikki also suspected that the higher-ups didn't trust Walker and Casey to lead a Chuck termination mission. Chuck's ex-girlfriend from Stanford, Jill Roberts seemed to be working for Fulcrum. The company had presumed her dead in Afghanistan several years ago, on an operation led by Bryce Larkin of all people. One day, she would have to meet this 'best friend' of Chuck's who kept screwing up his life.

"Nikki, you ready?"

Nikki snapped back to attention. Vazquez and Johnson were waiting for her to follow them out to a helicopter.

"We're flying over to Cedars-Sinai to talk to Walker and Casey. They'll try and wake them up. We need to know what they know. Hopefully, they can tell us something that you'll flash on."

Nikki started jogging toward the helicopter. "I hope so."

**  
Restricted CIA area; Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, 6:03am on a weekday**

"I'm Major Mark Carson, U.S. Army. SOCOM sent me to check on the status of Sergeant Davis, the Delta Operator you have here."

Janice checked his ID and orders. Everything on the handsome young doctor checked out. Except that he was two hours early.

"You weren't supposed to arrive until eight a.m. Can you explain why you're here so early?"

Without skipping a beat, the doctor answered. "It's sad to say, but I had another Special Forces patient who died last night. He was involved in the same operation as Sergeant Davis and there are concerns that they were both exposed to some kind of neurotoxin. I got here as soon as I could in the hopes of preventing the same thing from happening again. I cannot stand losing people."

Janice couldn't help but feel sympathy for the other patient. She was also taken by the fierce passion of the young doctor. She found it very attractive.

She handed him back his ID and orders. "Well, don't let me waste any more of your time, Doctor. Sergeant Davis is in room eight, at the end of the hall. If you have any time later, I'd appreciate any update you could give on Sergeant Davis' condition. I don't like losing patients either." She flashed him her best smile.

The young doctor returned her smile in kind, causing her cheeks to flush. "I'll do that, Janice. Thank you." He brushed her fingers with his as he took his ID back. She seemed to appreciate the gesture. Before turning to walk down the hall, he glanced at the whiteboard behind Janice and saw that Sarah and Casey were in room seven.

"Honey, who was that," Linda asked as she startled Janice from behind. "Thanks for covering for me. I needed to get some food."

"That, Linda, was Major Mark Carson, U.S. Army. A real Doctor Dreamboat. I think he took a liking to me. You know, there is an empty storage closet that has just enough room to for two people to…"

Linda watched the doctor walk away down the hall. She thought she noticed something familiar about him, but Janice's increasingly graphic daydreaming pushed it out of her mind.

**  
Carbon Beach, Malibu, 6:09am on a weekday**

"Thompson, how is our OpSec looking?"

"Airtight. No leaks that we know of."

Jill smiled. "How are our Fulcrum successors doing?"

"They're all ready to go. Mike Jamison is ready to sit in Graham's Director of National Intelligence seat. Admiral Anders is chomping at the bit to take General Beckman's place. The same is true with the NRO, FBI, and Secret Service. It was a real coup to get Fulcrum people so high up," Thompson answered.

"A real coup; now that's funny! It took a lot of effort to get everyone in the right spot. Thanks to Chuck, we have their most powerful intelligence resource and he's opened up their playbook for us. If we can grab Nikki Johnson, our strike will be total and complete. Without the Intersects, they have no way to stop us in time. And all for the low price of three murders by 'accident' and two cases of blackmail."

"Speaking of Intersects, we know that Nikki landed in Burbank with Agent Vazquez of the CIA and Agent Lee of the NSA. They boarded a helicopter soon after landing. We're trying to figure out where they went right now."

"Good. They don't know what we do. I want to take her fast, before we lose our advantage over them. They're on their heels. When you get a location on her, start planning the snatch."

"Yes ma'am."

**  
Room seven, ****Restricted CIA area****; Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, 6:11am on a weekday**

Bryce was thankful that the CIA didn't see the need to post guards at the doors to the rooms. They were confident that their medical area was secure enough. With nobody noticing, he slipped into room seven.

He saw Sarah and Casey lying in their beds, unconscious. Both looked pale, with a multitude of cuts and bruises visible on their faces. Resisting the urge to rush to Sarah's side and grasp her hand, he first deployed a wireless surveillance recorder. The CIA liked to use wireless security cameras in facilities like this and it was easy for Bryce to find the signal frequency. He was able to tap into the signal of the three room cameras and record ninety seconds of footage onto his device's flash memory. He set the footage to loop and fed that into the surveillance system. Confident that anyone watching would continue to see what he wanted, he hid the device in a box of latex gloves and walked to Sarah's bed.

She had a saline IV drip, but he didn't see any medication. It looked like Casey was on some painkillers. Seeing Sarah hurt and vulnerable, Bryce couldn't help himself. He brushed some blonde hair away from her forehead and palmed her face. Her smooth skin felt hot and so good to him. He leaned down and gently touched his lips to hers.

Sarah had been having fevered dreams. In them, she found herself in a strange place where rules and logic didn't make sense. She was married to Chuck and they were both CIA agents. Ellie, Devon, and Morgan knew about Chuck's secret and her identity, but they all still went out for movies or sushi. She even had a business card that she handed out which said 'Sarah Bartowski, The CIA's Best Agent and Assassin.' Everything actually seemed fine, until one day, they ran into Bryce and Jill at a restaurant. Bryce and Jill were married and she couldn't keep herself from feeling a tinge of jealousy that Bryce was married. She knew that Chuck was the better man by far, but she still felt the jealousy. Bryce and Jill began to spend more time with Chuck and Sarah until one day, Jill asked Bryce if she could kiss Chuck. Bryce said ok, but Chuck said no. Sarah tried to scream 'no way in hell,' but had lost her voice. Jill then distracted Chuck while Bryce asked Sarah if he could kiss her. She tried to say no, but no sounds came out again. Bryce naturally took that as a yes and moved in to kiss her. She was screaming no in her mind.

Bryce could feel Sarah's breathing change when she woke up. He hadn't expected the whole sleeping beauty kiss to work. He backed away.

"Sarah, can you hear me?"

Her training eventually overcame her body's cries for more rest. Her eyes fluttered open.

"Where am I? Bryce? Where's Chuck?"

Bryce felt a slight stab of pain in his heart. Could that be what Graham meant about Sarah being emotionally involved? With Chuck? No way. She was just being protective…

"Sarah, I don't know where Chuck is. I'm trying to find him too. One of my sources told me that you might have the answer."

"Huh?! If I had the answer, I would have gone after him a long time ago." Her voice began rising in volume. "Tell me where I am, and how I can get out of here." Seeing the sunlight coming through the window seemed to scare her. "What time is it? Jesus, I've wasted hours! Chuck could be dead by now!"

"Do you mind? Some people are trying to sleep here," came a grumpy complaint from Casey's bed.

Bryce turned to see Casey open his eyes and look around the room without focus. His training soon kicked in and he quickly regained control of his senses.

"Where am I? The last I remember I was buried under a building. After saving Walker's ass." He noticed the sunlight for the first time. "And what the hell time is it?"

Before he could answer, they heard the sound of a helicopter approaching, probably to land on the rooftop helipad. Bryce answered the silent question in Casey's eyes.

"Yes, that's a Blackhawk landing on the helipad. You're in the CIA wing of Cedars-Sinai. It's about six-fifteen a.m. You've been out about five hours. I was on Jill's and Chuck's trail but I lost it. An asset I turned at Fulcrum said that you," he looked at Sarah, "have the answer to Chuck's whereabouts."

"Me? That makes no sense!"

"I know! But I have to ask you anyways." He grasped her hand in between both of his. She didn't resist. "Where do you like to make love as the sun sets?"

"What kind of stupid asset did you turn, Larkin," Casey blurted. Bryce directed an annoyed look at him

Sarah didn't say anything. Noticing her silence, they both looked at her and saw her process the question. Despite her spy skills, they both knew her mannerisms well enough to know that she knew the answer.

"I know where Chuck is," she said

"Where," they both asked.

Bryce's pager began to buzz before she could answer.

"Uh oh, we're about to have company."

"How long," Sarah asked.

"Ten seconds," Bryce answered.

Casey looked around the room. "I assume you're here on your own. Maybe you should find a place to hide. Bathroom? Bedpan? Closet..." He stopped talking as Bryce took two steps towards a corner chair, propelled himself upward, and through a large drop ceiling tile. The tile dropped back into place a second later.

"For once, I'm speechless," Casey said. Sarah gave him a small smile and shrugged.

The door to the room opened and Agents Vazquez and Lee entered, followed by Nikki Johnson. Nikki and Sarah exchanged a wary look.

"It's good to see you awake," Agent Vazquez started. "We had a lot of false alarms concerning your deaths."

"We CIA agents are a resilient bunch," Sarah quipped. "Unlike NSA agents who tend to get buildings dropped on their heads."

"Hey, you're actually going to get on my case for throwing you out of the collapsing building," Casey retorted. He was actually being half-serious.

Sarah flashed him a sympathetic smile. "Sorry, agency rivalries die hard. Thanks for that.."

Casey grunted.

"We'd love to catch up, but time is of the essence," Agent Lee said. "Bartowski's trail has gone cold. Our orders are to acquire his location A.S.A.P. We're to run the operation until you two get medically cleared."

"I feel fine," Casey said. "How about you, Walker?"

"Same here." She did not in fact feel fine and doubted that Casey felt any better.

"Well, that's up to the doctors, not us," Agent Lee said with a frown. "I know how you guys feel about giving up command, believe me."

"So, what are the orders regarding Chuck's rescue, once you find him," Sarah asked.

Agent's Lee and Vazquez exchanged uncomfortable side glances, which were noticed by both Sarah and Casey.

"The orders are to terminate Chuck and any Fulcrum operatives in his vicinity with extreme prejudice. Once we find him," Nikki answered.

Agents Lee and Vazquez directed an annoyed look at Nikki. "Unfortunately, those are our orders. You both know that if we can find any alternative where Bartowski survives, we'd do it. But orders are orders."

"We know all about orders," Casey said.

"So do either of you have any idea where Bartowski and Roberts could be," Lee asked.

"Nope, no idea. I wish we did," Sarah answered sadly. She did a masterful job of selling it to Agents Lee and Vazquez. Casey remained quiet and looked sad.

Nikki's and Sarah's eyes met. Sarah tried to sell her ignorance of Chuck's location to Nikki, but something slipped past her shields. Nikki picked up on it. She knew that Sarah was hiding something.


	9. Fast Allies, Not Friends

_Thanks to LeeCan for the advice._

**Chuck and Sarah vs. The Ex, Chapter 9**

**  
Room seven, Restricted CIA area; Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, 6:22am on a weekday**

"That's unfortunate," Agent Lee said.

"We understand that Jill Roberts distracted you with some kind of video giving her time to hijack the Reaper. What was on the video?" Agent Vazquez asked.

Sarah blinked hard as images of Chuck's interrogation filled her mind. She could still hear him pleading with Jill to stop. Everyone in the room noticed her reaction but nobody spoke. Casey eventually did.

"The crazy bitch filmed her torture of Bartowski. He was under the influence of physiological response drugs. You know how hard it is for trained operatives to resist those. He didn't stand a chance." He looked over at Sarah to see if she would pick up the story but she kept staring at the wall. He continued.

"Chuck wasn't able to hold out long before disclosing that he was the Intersect. He also compromised our covers. That was hours ago. By now, he could have given up all our operations, our command structure and communication protocols. I wouldn't be surprised if he even compromised Nikki's true identity-"

"He didn't have a choice Casey!" Sarah complained.

"I know that! But they need to know everything we do, so they can find him!" he shot back.

"So they can kill him!" Sarah's eyes bored holes through Casey's head.

"Ahem…"

All eyes turned toward Nikki as she broke through the rising tension. She suspected that Sarah knew something about Chuck's location, but wasn't going to tell the agents anything. She could get it out of her. She had to get herself alone with her.

"Agent Walker, was there anything else on the video that could help? Any names or phrases that might trigger a flash for Nikki?" Agent Lee asked.

Sarah took a deep breath. "Well, Jill did taunt us, but it was just a bunch of gibberish to delay us. She didn't use any specific names or phrases. After that, she started a slideshow of files that was too small to see in detail. The DVD and laptop probably got blasted in the bombing, like we did."

"Agent Casey, is there anything else you can add?"

Sarah looked at him. He looked straight at Agent Lee. "No, that covers it. We couldn't see or hear anything in the background. I think the video is a dead end."

Sarah released the breath she had been holding. Her gaze fell on Nikki who looked back with knowing eyes. Had Nikki detected that she was hiding something? Nikki was as well-trained as the CIA's finest and had bested her in their one physical encounter. She hoped that the female Intersect didn't use this opportunity to promote herself higher into the CIA's and NSA's good graces. Sarah calculated that Nikki would keep quiet and try to get her alone to learn the information for herself. Hopefully, she would do it because she cared about Chuck. At this point, Sarah would sacrifice everything to get Chuck back safe and sound. She had no choice but to trust Nikki. She needed the Intersect's abilities to get Chuck back. How was she going to get some alone time with her?

Agent Lee's phone beeped as a text message arrived.

_Roberts laptop and DVD found at bombsite. Considerable damage. Sending to lab._

"Anything good?" Agent Vazquez asked.

"They found the Roberts laptop and DVD at the bombsite. They're damaged, but maybe the lab can find some clues."

Sarah felt a chill. If they recovered the video and saw Chuck confessing his love for her, she'd be whisked away in an instant. The agency was tolerant of physical relationships that didn't interfere with missions. Love though, that was a different matter and would be trouble, especially if they thought that she shared Chuck's feelings. She looked at Nikki who again, seemed to notice her reaction to the news. _Damn her!_

Agent Vazquez's phone rang.

"Vazquez here. We're with them now. Can you repeat that sir? Understood. We'll get ready to receive him. Understood."

She snapped the phone shut. "That was Director Graham. He was contacted by a CIA agent who's been under deep cover within Fulcrum. He's about to arrive here at the hospital and we're supposed to take him in. He may have information about Bartowski's location."

"Where are we supposed to meet him?"

"Down in the lobby. In ten minutes."

"Well, you better get going, Carmen. I'll stay here with Nikki and see if we can come up with anything flash-worthy," Agent Lee said.

"You know," Casey began, "that sounds fishy to me. A CIA agent that's been under deep cover within Fulcrum? For how long? I've never heard of anyone on our side getting in deep with Fulcrum. I'd be cautious if I were you. Lee, maybe you should go down too and see if you can recognize the guy. It could be another Fulcrum trick. They've been kicking our asses so far tonight."

Agents Lee and Vazquez looked at each other and agreed.

"Ok, we'll both go down and leave Nikki here. This area is secure. If you guys can think of anything that would trigger a flash, try it. We'll be back."

The two agents walked out. Nikki approached Casey as soon as the door latched. She mouthed the words, 'safe to talk?' He nodded.

She turned to Sarah. "What the hell are you holding back? Vazquez, Lee, and I are your best hope for saving Chuck. I may be able to find some way of stopping the strike they have planned and get them to rescue him instead. But, we need to find him first. I hope you haven't let your personal feelings and ego run roughshod over your most important objective, which was to protect Chuck. Something that you failed to do last-"

Sarah rose up in bed. "How dare you! How dare you walk in here and criticize me! Where were you when Chuck was kidnapped? Were you in the building when the bombs fell? We had to claw our way out of there with our bare hands! You didn't have to watch Chuck get tortured! You didn't have to watch Jill make him say…" she took a breath and composed her next words carefully. "Say…all those things. Don't you dare presume that you could have done any better. I did everything I could to protect Chuck! There's nothing I wouldn't do to get him back!"

Both women stared unflinchingly at each other. Nikki didn't think Sarah would get out of bed to fight, but prepared herself for an attack. Sarah didn't think that Nikki would hit her while she was in bed, but thought she could successfully leap out and get in the first punch.

They heard a short whistle.

"What!" they both responded as they maintained eye contact and waited for the other to make the first move.

Casey laughed and shook his head. "I was just thinking that I would love to see who would win this pissing contest. But since you're both girls, I don't know how you'd measure distance. Before you start pulling each others hair, let's remember the facts. We now have less than ten minutes to come up with a plan to save Chuck. Isn't that who you're really fighting over? Well, let's go save him then! You two can fight over him after we get him back. God only knows why you would in the first place. Or, do you want to keep arguing over your cup sizes?"

Both women held each others stare, but relaxed. A little.

Sarah pushed her emotions down and made the first move. She had to take the chance. "Nikki, can you promise me that you'll do whatever it takes to get Chuck back? That you'll break all the rules if you have to? That you'll sacrifice your life if necessary? Because that's what I'm willing to do."

Nikki looked as deeply as she could into her. What she saw only reinforced Sarah's words. She was forced to revise her earlier judgment of the CIA agent. She believed that Sarah was willing to do anything to get Chuck back. Chuck the man, not Chuck the Intersect. Because she really was in love with him.

"Yes, I'll do whatever it takes." Nikki hoped she could see her earnestness in return. Sarah slowly laid back down in her bed. The two women visibly relaxed.

"Well, alright then. Will everyone who's in love with Chuck raise their hand?"

The question came from an unidentified male voice right behind Nikki. She was so startled that she spun around and dropped into a fighting stance. In front of her stood a slim and fit man, about six feet tall, with hard blue eyes, medium length dark hair, and a goatee. His arms were crossed and his face was wearing an annoyed look. She saw a missing ceiling tile in her peripheral vision.

Casey grunted, then raised his hand. Bryce shook his head in defeat, then raised his hand. They received very dangerous looks from both women.

"Nikki Johnson, meet Bryce Larkin."

**  
Carbon Beach, Malibu, 6:26am on a weekday**

Chuck awoke to the smell of coffee. Jill was standing in front of him waving a steaming cup under his nose.

"Good morning sunshine! Did you dream about me again?"

"Yeah, but it was a freakin nightmare. I'm dreaming about waking up and finding you gone."

"Aww, don't be mad. Like I said, it's nothing personal. I'm just playing my part in the game. So are you."

"Damn it Jill, what the hell is wrong with you? This isn't a game!"

She took a satisfying sip of coffee. "Aahh, good coffee. Did you know that your fellow Intersect is at Cedars-Sinai right now? She's probably there with her handlers to interview survivors of the Reaper strike."

Chuck's heart raced at the prospect. "Survivors?"

"Don't get your hopes up. There were agents outside the building who got hurt. Your guardians were inside."

"How do you know where Nikki is?"

"Fulcrum is everywhere, Chuck."

"What are you going to do?"

"We're going to politely ask her to join us here. If she refuses, we'll insist. I can't wait to get you two together. She's a beautiful woman, Chuck. Tell me. Did you sleep with her?"

"Go to hell."

Jill laughed. "There's no need to be embarrassed. You should be proud, that hot chicks like you so much. What's your secret?"

"Are you finished?"

"For now. In the meantime, enjoy the coffee."

She placed the steaming cup on a table next to Chuck and left.

"Bitch…" His hands remained restrained and unable to reach the cup, but he was able to smell the aroma.

**  
Carbon Beach, Malibu, 6:28am on a weekday**

"Thompson, do you have a fix on Johnson's position?" Jill asked.

"Yeah. She's on the sixth floor, in the CIA's secured medical wing."

"So they think."

"Exactly. Our operators are getting into place. We should be able to grab her within the next ten minutes."

"Good, let me know when they have her. In the meantime, is our special device ready to go?"

"I loaded the database. Everything seems to be functioning properly. The question is will it work?"

"I'll test it on Chuck and let you know."

**  
Room seven, Restricted CIA area; Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, 6:30am on a weekday**

Nikki's eyes lost their focus. The mention of Bryce's name unleashed a flood of images and data in her mind. She instantly knew all the details of his CIA recruitment and career, up to being shot by Casey after stealing the Intersect.

Sarah and Casey recognized Nikki's flash for what it was. She was much smoother at hiding it than Chuck ever was. Bryce also recognized the flash after a few seconds.

"You're supposed to be dead!"

"Not everything gets loaded into the Intersect database. My death has been a useful cover."

Nikki examined his face closely. "So you're the son of a bitch that keeps wrecking Chuck's life."

Bryce rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Ok, that was a great introduction. Can we come up with a plan to rescue Chuck now?" Casey said.

Bryce stared at Nikki. "Well, if Sarah can trust you, then I can." He walked to Sarah's bedside. "You were about to tell us where you like to make love as the sun sets."

"That's from a mission I was on two years ago. I was tasked to infiltrate a Russian industrial espionage group. They were using prostitutes posing as escorts and models to seduce technology company executives, and blackmail them into divulging their secrets. I posed as an escort-"

"No surprise there," Nikki interjected. She got three angry looks.

"I was saying, that I posed as an escort and took the whole group down from the inside."

"What does that have to do with Chuck's current location?" Casey asked.

"I don't know!" Sarah exclaimed. "They were using a house in Pacific Palisades as their base. The house was called the Glass Palace."

Nikki flashed on the name and everyone looked expectantly at her.

"Ok, I just saw your mission report on that op. There's nothing useful."

"Are you sure?" Sarah asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. I can't see any links to current Fulcrum operations or operatives. What else do you remember about the op?"

"The espionage ring set up an offshore shell company. It was called Apex Holdings, LLC."

Nikki flashed again.

"There's nothing there. The CIA took that company apart years ago."

"C'mon, Walker. Lee and Vazquez will be back soon. They won't be pleased to see Bryce up here instead of down in the lobby," Casey said.

"I'm thinking! Making love as the sun sets was a little phrase I used to entice the executives. I must have told it to ten different men…Wait!"

"What is it?" Nikki asked.

"See if you flash on this. The thirsty bear."

Nikki flashed and saw a hairy, overweight man who was one of the leaders of the espionage ring. The CIA captured him, and turned him into a double agent. They looked the other way as he set up various drug smuggling operations in central Asia. He ran an opium smuggling ring in Afghanistan that the CIA was investigating…

"Well, what do you have, Johnson?" Casey asked.

"Bryce, you were part of the operation in Afghanistan where Jill was presumed killed. You were tracking down links between the opium trade and terrorism, and the CIA sent a technical analyst named Jill Roberts out."

"Yeah. I wanted to go back to her humvee crash, but the area was just too hot."

"Well, that opium operation was run by Vladimir Kovovin, a.k.a. The Thirsty Bear. He has suspected links to Fulcrum as a financial supporter. And guess what…"

"What!?"

"One of his shell companies owns a house in Malibu, on Carbon Beach."

"I guess we're heading to the coast," Sarah said as she sat up. Her limbs felt heavy and sluggish. "Now, how do we get out of here?"

**  
Fifth floor, empty supply room; Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, 6:33am on a weekday**

Ten Fulcrum operators checked their sub-machine guns and pistols. They placed the rolled-up ski masks on their heads, ready to roll them down when the time came.

"Is everyone clear on the plan?"

"Yeah. Go upstairs and kill everyone who isn't Nikki Johnson." He took another look at a picture of the target. She was very attractive. Hopefully, they'd get a chance to interrogate her later. He enjoyed that part of the job most even though the CIA frowned on his unorthodox techniques. Working for Fulcrum was so much more fun.

"Ok. We go in three."

**  
Room seven, Restricted CIA area; Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, 6:35am on a weekday**

Bryce knocked a tile out of place and two large duffle bags dropped to the floor. He began unzipping the various compartments.

"You two, are you up for this? If you're going to hold us back, you might as well stay."

Sarah propelled herself over the bed's rail and wobbly stuck the landing. "I'm ready."

Casey pulled the wires and IV line off and rolled to his feet. He looked more wobbly than Sarah but stood tall. "I'm not missing any gunplay. Some bad guys are going to die."

"I thought as much. Here, this should help." Bryce tossed two syringe pens at them.

"I love me some epinephrine," Casey said as he jammed the pen into his thigh. Sarah followed suit.

Bryce tossed black cargo pants, t-shirts, sweatshirts, socks, and boots at them. "I remember your size, Sarah. I just went with big and tall for you, Casey. Sorry but I didn't bring underwear. You're both going commando."

That earned a smile from Sarah and a grunt from Casey. He was momentarily distracted by her smile.

As they donned the clothes, Bryce pulled out three forty caliber Sig-Sauer P229 pistols with five loaded magazines each along with thigh holsters. Nikki looked at him questioningly.

"Sorry, I didn't expect another Intersect to join the party. We can kill one of the bad guys and take their gun."

"Where did you get all this?" Nikki asked.

"This is the CIA section of the hospital. These things were just lying around the supply closet."

"Ok, genius. You seem to have thought of everything. How do we get out of this secured CIA section of the hospital?" she asked.

"I think we'll just jump," he replied confidently.

"Wha-"

Bryce's pager began buzzing.

"Company. Probably Lee and Vazquez. Nikki, get behind the door with me. Just don't get in the way."

The door opened momentarily. Agents Lee and Vazquez stopped cold upon seeing Sarah and Casey standing and wearing their black tactical clothing. They were smiling as they slid their Sigs into their holsters.

"What the-" Agent Lee managed to say before the cocking of a Sig's hammer from behind silenced him. Agent Vazquez reacted with lightning speed, drawing her pistol and spinning around to confront the unknown threat. Nikki reacted equally fast, slapping the pistol away as she turned. She grabbed her wrist at the pressure point, squeezed, and twisted her arm around her back while putting on a chokehold with her other arm.

"Hmm…" Bryce uttered with surprise.

Sarah walked up to Agent Lee and disarmed him. "We're sorry but we're going to go rescue Chuck. We have to do this on our own. If we tell you where he is, then he's going to get a bomb dropped on him. We're going to get him back alive."

"Walker, Casey, if you guys do this, you'll be finished. Your careers will be over and you'll be sitting in a jail cell the rest of your lives, if you survive. Johnson, if you do this, you'll be in an underground bunker until they don't need you anymore. Then, they'll turn you into a guinea pig," Vazquez said.

Sarah, Casey, and Nikki looked at each other. "That's why we're not asking you to join us. And we've already decided," Casey said.

The lights went out followed by a very loud bang. Automatic gunfire began to echo from down the hall. The emergency lights clicked on, emitting a red glow.

"Damn it, it must be Fulcrum! They must be after Nikki! Chuck is really making things hard for us tonight!" Casey yelled.

"We can't let them get Nikki!" Lee said.

"We'll get her out of here," Sarah shouted. "Can you guys buy us some time?" She presented Agent Lee's pistol to him.

Agents Lee and Vazquez exchanged a look. "What choice do we have?" Agent Lee replied as he took his gun back. Nikki released Agent Vazquez who picked her gun up from the floor.

"Ok, Larkin. How are we supposed to jump out of here? It's kinda low to base jump." Casey said.

"It is too low, so we're not using parachutes. The CIA recommends flying from this level."

"Flying!?"

"Like a squirrel. There's a stash of wingsuits for emergency evac."

The gunfire was approaching and getting louder.

"So where are they? This would be a good time to break them out," Nikki said.

"They're stashed in room eight. Next door."

"Fan-freakin-tastic!"

**  
Carbon Beach, Malibu, 6:36am on a weekday**

Jill rolled a cart into the room with a smile. Chuck took note of the two PC's monitor, keyboard, and something that looked like video goggles. He grew anxious.

"Since you've been so helpful, I'm giving you a reward. You get to watch TV for a while."

"Somehow, I don't believe you."

"You're learning, Chuck."

She activated the equipment which began to whir and whine.

"Seriously, what is this, some new kind of torture? Are you going to make me watch reality shows?"

"You could say that."

The goggles lit up and Jill moved to mount them on Chuck's head.

"Jill, seriously, what is this?"

She put the goggles over his eyes and hit a button. Chuck saw a flood of images. Before going into a trance, he remembered when this first happened to him. When he opened Bryce's email.

Jill ran her hands through Chuck's hair as he sat rigidly. "I guess you could call it the bizarro Intersect."


	10. Leverage and Competition

_A/N: Now fortified with edits from Verkisto and GandalfTheFunky. Thanks!_

**  
Chuck and Sarah vs. the Ex, Chapter 10**

**  
Room seven, Restricted CIA area; Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, 6:36am on a weekday**

"It sounds like they're just executing everyone on the floor," Bryce said as he looked around the room for defensible locations. The staccato outbursts of gunfire kept moving closer. "I hear at least six, maybe eight."

Sarah clicked her pistol's safety off as she rolled a piece of equipment toward the door. "We need to get to room eight. Bryce, are there enough wingsuits for everyone? We can all go above the ceiling, like you did."

"Yeah, but we don't have enough time to get into the suits. They're coming too fast. How long until reinforcements?" Bryce estimated they had about twenty seconds until they had to start shooting back.

"Eight minutes," Vazquez answered.

Casey pushed another piece of equipment to the door to form a barricade. "Not enough time to wait. Walker, you and Nikki get next door and get out of here. She knows where Chuck is. You can't let Fulcrum get both Intersects." He pulled back on his pistol's slide and confirmed that a bullet was indeed chambered. "We'll buy you some time."

Sarah gave Casey a small nod and grabbed Nikki's arm. "C'mon-"

"Wait!" Nikki said. "If they're after me, they won't kill me, right? Can't we use that? I can go out as bait or something. They don't know there are five agents in this room."

"Bryce, can you get anywhere on this floor above the ceiling?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. I think this could work. How about this, CIA up above, NSA on the ground. Buy us as much time as you can." Gunfire erupted very close to them making them duck.

"Thanks, Larkin. Make us the bait. Fine, we'll do the hard work. Get your lightweight asses up there now! What's the sign?" Casey barked.

"You'll figure it out."

In a flash, Bryce, Sarah, and Vazquez boosted themselves from a chair through a hole in the drop ceiling. Nikki, Casey, and Lee watched as the ceiling tile was replaced. The gunfire was so loud that the Fulcrum agents were probably standing right outside. They dropped to their knees and placed their hands behind their heads, with Nikki at the front. Casey and Lee had given their weapons to the CIA agents. Hopefully, they would get them back.

Casey leaned forward and whispered into Nikki's ear. "I hope they're here to take you alive and not execute you."

Nikki turned to look at him. He grunted at her surprised look. That thought hadn't crossed her mind.

The door opened and the agents reflexively closed their eyes to mitigate the effects of the coming flash bang grenade. Nikki didn't react in time and was both blinded and deafened.

**  
Black Chevy Suburban; Falls Church, VA, 9:37am on a weekday**

Director Graham scheduled an emergency meeting at the office and was already running late. He was extremely cranky and on his umpteenth cup of coffee in the last twelve hours. Fulcrum had moved faster and more devastatingly than anyone had expected. Their reach must go much higher than the latest analysis estimated. Was there anything higher than the White House?

"Good morning, sir," his driver and bodyguard greeted. He drove up in the black Chevy Suburban twenty minutes ago, and per usual custom, brewed a pot of coffee in Graham's kitchen. He knew just how strong the director liked it. After pouring himself a cup, he returned to sit in the SUV.

"I wish it was a good morning," Graham sighed. "We need to get into the office pronto. Where's our escort?"

"Just down the street sir. Do you want to light them up?" Graham glanced down the street and spotted two white Ford Crown Victorias without markings.

"Yeah. National security trumps traffic today."

Graham entered the back seat and placed his briefcase next to him as his driver radioed the escort vehicles.

"Escort, this is principal. Light it up today. We're taking the fastest route in."

"Copy that."

The three vehicles sped down the street, the cars bracketing the SUV. All three ran with their red and blue lights flashing in their grills, windshield, and back window.

Director Graham closed his eyes and massaged his temples. He had a feeling his headache would only get worse. He wasn't surprised when his phone rang. The caller ID indicated that it was General Beckman.

"This is Graham. Are you in the office yet?"

"I'm en route. You?"

"Same."

"Did you get the package?"

He hesitated. Package? "What package?"

"The one in the seat pocket in front of you."

Graham looked down and noticed the sealed brown envelope for the first time. He had been so distracted by his thoughts he never looked.

"Tom, what's this envelope here?"

His driver turned in alarm. "What envelope, sir?"

Beckman calmed him over the phone. "Don't worry, it's not a bomb. My bodyguards already checked. Fulcrum snuck them into our vehicles somehow. Open it up and tell me what's inside."

He gingerly pulled the envelope from the seatback pocket. It seemed to contain nothing but standard-sized documents. He undid the clasp and opened it. He turned it upside down, and the contents fell unto his lap.

He looked through the papers and photos. At the end, he found a plain typed sheet outlining Fulcrum's offer. Demand was more accurate.

"Fuck!" he yelled into the phone.

His driver turned around again. Radio microphone in hand, he was prepared to signal an emergency to the escort vehicles. He had never seen the CIA director so distressed before.

**  
Room seven, Restricted CIA area; Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, 6:37am on a weekday**

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"

Nikki, Casey, and Lee were all screaming at the top of their lungs, though they couldn't hear themselves through the loud buzzing in their heads caused by the flash bang grenade. Nikki still couldn't see when two Fulcrum operators entered the room with their sub-machine guns trained on the kneeling subjects. They were yelling too.

"Get down! Get down! Down on the floor!"

Before they could lower themselves, the operators kicked them face down onto the floor. They were quickly searched for weapons, then lifted and taken to the hallway outside. Once there, they were pushed down to their knees again and ordered to clasp their hands behind their heads.

After room eight was cleared, Nikki and the kneeling agents were surrounded by six armed men in ski masks. They murdered the other patient-agents and the few guards. The medical staff was locked into a supply room, unconscious after being gassed with an anesthetic. The other four operators took positions at the end of the hall guarding the elevator and stairway. The CIA's desire for a secure area also made it easily defensible. Sergeant Davis, the Delta Force operator in room eight, was left in place. His injuries seemed extremely severe and he didn't appear to be going anywhere. They just pulled the plug on his respirator.

One of the operators rolled up his ski mask and took out a picture. He held it up and compared it to Nikki. Nikki immediately flashed on the man's face. He was a CIA interrogation specialist with several black marks on his record. More than a dozen enemy combatants had died by his hand in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. There were no links tying him to Fulcrum. She concealed her flash, but Casey and Lee still noticed when her head jerked slightly.

The man began to smile. "Nikki Johnson. Our bosses really want to meet you."

Nikki played it cool and tried to stall. Hopefully, the CIA was in place above them. She was alert for any kind of sign. "I'd like to meet them too. Why don't you tell me their names? I might recognize them."

"You might recognize them. That's why I won't tell you. Don't be rude. Why don't you introduce us?" He walked closer to Casey. "What's your name, tough guy?"

"Your mother," Casey sneered.

The man smiled before back fisting Casey. A cut opened up on his already bruised cheek.

Nikki didn't think taunting was the best way to buy time. "Why do you want me? I don't even work for the government."

The sadistic man moved in front of Nikki and took a knee. He roughly grabbed her chin. "You don't work for the government, but you're in a secured CIA section of the hospital. Did you get lost or something, my pretty? Did the CIA just let you walk in here?"

"CIA, really? Wow! I just followed his cute doctor onto this floor and was trying to get his number. I'm a shrink, from downstairs. Dr. Elizabeth Garner. Go check." She remembered seeing the name on a directory board and hoped Dr. Garner really was a psychiatrist. It should buy precious seconds.

The Fulcrum operator didn't buy it at all. "Nice try, Ms. Johnson. However, it's time for us to go now. You get to come with us. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to see what secrets you're hiding." He ran his hand down the front of her chest. "As for your friends, I'm afraid they have a date with a bullet." He stood and signaled his men to shoot Casey and Lee.

The three knew they couldn't stall anymore. They tensed their muscles preparing to attack. They wouldn't last long unarmed against six professionals with guns, but each was determined not to go out timidly.

As two of the men raised their sub-machine guns to Casey and Lee, three gunshots were heard. Blood sprayed against the walls as three of the Fulcrum operators slumped down with holes in their heads. Two more shots were heard down the hall as two of the men guarding the entry points were killed.

Before the Fulcrum survivors could react, Nikki, Casey, and Lee simultaneously leapt up and attacked the closest man to them. Casey and Lee were the closest to their targets as their would-be executioners were standing close.

Lee jumped up catching the sub-machine barrel with his right hand and deflecting it upward. With his left hand, he grabbed the man's neck and put on a blood choke, compressing both carotid arteries and jugular veins. He slammed his knee into the man's groin as he pushed him back into the wall. The shock of the attack coupled with the pain from his groin and the diminishing blood flow to his brain put the Fulcrum man at a severe disadvantage. Lee followed up with two more knees to the groin and squeezed his chokehold tighter as the man tried unsuccessfully to gain release. He squeezed off a few bullets that hit the ceiling. After five seconds, his consciousness began to fade. Lee delivered two more groin strikes. The man passed out a few seconds later and slumped down. Lee quickly took his weapon.

Two more shots sounded from down the hall. The final two Fulcrum operators guarding the entry points died.

Casey leapt up at the same time Lee did, catching the sub-machine gun's barrel with his left hand and pushing it upward. He held a height advantage over his opponent and decided to go for a head strike. Casey continued his upward motion as powerfully as he could and directed the top of his head at the man's face. His aim was true, and he heard a satisfying crunch as his head contacted the man's jaw, forcing his mouth closed and cracking several teeth loose. As he stepped back, he grabbed the gun's butt stock with his right hand and twisted the weapon to his left, snapping the other man's right index finger as it got stuck in the trigger guard. He then wrenched the gun away from the stunned man, stepped back, and fired three rounds into his chest. The already dead man crumpled into a rapidly expanding pool of his own blood.

Nikki wasn't as close to her target, the sadistic CIA traitor. He backed away from her when she stood to gave himself space when his comrades began dying. He pointed his gun at Nikki, and the two NSA agents, who were now pointing guns back at him. Knowing he was outnumbered, and that they had some kind of hidden allies, he began to back away, eyes darting about for an escape. Nikki matched his retreat, banking that he had orders not to kill her.

He didn't notice Sarah and Bryce, who had silently dropped from the ceiling and now stood behind him.

"I think you're surrounded, asshole," Nikki sneered.

He sensed she was telling the truth and began to turn around to the left for a glance when he was hit in his right kidney by a painful blow. After delivering the punch, Sarah disarmed him with the same method Casey used, twisting the sub-machine gun to the right and breaking his index finger when it got jammed in the trigger guard. He cried out in pain.

Sarah was about to put the man in a chokehold when she had to step aside to keep Nikki from hitting her. Nikki delivered a high front kick to the man's face, driving him back. As he staggered, she kicked him in his groin, broke his nose with two punches, and finally kicked his left knee with a low front kick. He barely maintained consciousness as he fell clutching his broken joint.

"I had him under control!" Sarah screamed.

"What am I supposed to do, assume that you were going to subdue him and miss a sure opportunity to take him down?" Nikki screamed back.

"Put a lid on the estrogen!" Bryce yelled. "Vazquez, are we clear?"

"All clear," she yelled from down the hall.

Sarah and Nikki continued staring at each other, both breathing heavily, and neither backing down.

Casey walked over and grabbed Sarah's shoulder. "Reinforcements will be here soon. It's time to go."

She blinked a few times and cooled down a bit. "You're right. Let's go." She walked past Nikki without looking and went to Lee. "Thanks for everything. What are you going to tell them?"

"Mostly, the truth. I'm not going to be sharing a jail cell with you guys," he replied with a laugh. "You better get a move on."

They shook hands. "Thanks," she said gratefully.

The two males and two females grabbed all the weapons they could carry, ran into room eight, got into their wingsuits, and jumped out the window.

**  
Black Chevy Suburban; Falls Church, VA, 9:42am on a weekday**

"I don't know where they got this intel, but it's accurate," Beckman said.

"It's the same on my end," Graham answered. "We're on a secure channel. It seems they're blackmailing both of us. Maybe it would help if we knew what leverage they have on the other."

"You go first," Beckman said after a pause.

Graham laughed sadly. "Fine, I'll be the bigger man." He closed the soundproof glass panel separating him from the driver. "They have everything on Operation Cinderblock. It's a CIA operation from back in ninety-nine. We recruited and set up the disappearances of several members of an opposition party in Egypt. The Egyptian government came to us with the request but didn't want a trail leading to them. It worked, and those in power stayed there. I was Deputy Director then, and I ran the op."

Beckman sighed. "Ok, I'll show you mine. Operation Robin Egg was an NSA operation in oh-one. I was in charge of stealing research that indicated a huge oil field had been discovered in Azerbaijan. It was located in an area where local and Russian companies had the land leases. We stole the research and replaced it with falsified data showing a bunch of dry holes. The foreign companies lost interest and some American companies were able to buy the leases at a discount. They're pumping a ton of crude now."

"Interesting," Graham replied. "So they have our dirty laundry. What was their demand of you?"

"That I quietly and smoothly retire and hand over the reins of the agency to Admiral Anders. Or they would go to the press."

"Same with me. Give my chair to Mike Jamison or the news reporters would be on my doorstep."

"Jesus, Anders and Jamison? Fulcrum? They're in the inner circle of our fight against Fulcrum!"

"I know-"

Graham nearly dropped his phone as the SUV suddenly sped up and began swerving. He lowered the privacy glass.

"Tom! What's going on?"

"Sir! I just got an alert that the directors of the NRO, FBI, and Secret Service have all been involved in fatal vehicular accidents. Foul play is suspected."

"General?" he yelled into the phone. He heard an animated discussion on the other end. "General?"

"I'm here. I guess you just heard?"

"Yeah. Fulcrum has hit us hard. We're in deep shit."

He heard a click. "Wait, I have Agent Lee on the other line. I'll conference him in."

Graham heard another click, and then Beckman spoke.

"Agent Lee, you're on a secure conference with Director Graham."

"Ma'am, sir. Fulcrum attacked the CIA hospital section. Damn near murdered everyone. The threat is neutralized now."

"Where is Nikki Johnson? What about Walker and Casey? Did you bring in Larkin?" Graham asked.

"They helped us set a trap for the Fulcrum agents. Fulcrum was trying to capture Johnson."

"Where are they now?" Beckman worriedly asked.

"After neutralizing the threat, Agents Walker, Casey, and Larkin forced Johnson to go with them. They escaped to go find Bartowski."

"You didn't stop them?!" Beckman raged.

"It was three on two, ma'am."

"So now we've lost both Intersects and three of our most dangerous agents have gone rogue," Graham summed up.

"That sounds about right, sir," Lee replied.

"This is a cluster fuck of the highest magnitude," Beckman hissed. "Do they know where Chuck is being held by Jill?"

"They seemed to have an idea."

"Hmm…" Beckman mused. "Director, can we get a Global Hawk back in the air?"

"Not after the havoc Jill caused earlier. The engineers are tearing into the avionics trying to find the holes. Global Hawk and Reaper operations are grounded worldwide."

"What if we rip the Intersect GPS tracker out of the remaining Global Hawk at Edwards and put it in an F-16? Would that work?" Lee asked.

"It might," Beckman answered. "Make it happen. Update me when you can. Make sure that F-16 is carrying Mavericks and JDAM's. Your priorities are to find the Intersects. Recover Johnson and eliminate Roberts and Bartowski. Arrest Walker, Casey, and Larkin. Do you concur, Director?"

"I do."

"Yes ma'am, sir." Lee disconnected the call.

"We don't have many cards left to play here," Graham observed.

"I know. Let's meet in the DNI office ASAP."

**  
White Toyota van; westbound Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, 6:57am on a weekday**

Casey ran two yellow lights as he struggled to maintain a fast pace to Malibu. He didn't want to attract police attention though. They were rogue agents driving a stolen van with multiple automatic firearms. Bryce sat in the passenger seat looking around for any trouble.

"So we all agree on the assault plan?" he asked.

He heard three yeses.

Sarah and Nikki sat in the third row checking and reloading all their weapons. Casey glanced in the mirror at the two women, who had spoken only minimally since their escape. As long as they had guns to keep them busy, he figured they wouldn't be any trouble. He wished he had a _Rambo_ DVD to put into the van's rear movie player.

"So, is she really in love with Chuck?" Bryce quietly asked.

Casey was uncomfortable speaking about subjects like love and relationships. He was even more uncomfortable discussing the strange relationship Sarah and Chuck shared. "That's something you should talk to her about." As an afterthought, he asked, "How has being under such deep cover been?"

Bryce examined Casey and decided not to push any further about Sarah. "It's been a dream. I have minimal oversight, any resources I need, and can run operations as I please."

Casey grunted and smiled. Bryce truly had a spy's dream assignment. Something he might have been eligible for if he were ten years younger and not a burnout. Babysitting Chuck and partnering with the CIA skirt had worked out much better than he ever expected, though. Somehow, he felt more alive than he had in years. More human…

Bryce continued. "Let me tell you about the time-"

Sarah heard snippets of the conversation in front as she loaded a magazine and checked that the sub-machine gun cycled smoothly. She thought Bryce had asked Casey if she were in love with Chuck. She answered the question in her own mind. She was.

"Boy talk?" Nikki offered, trying to break the ice as she slapped a full magazine into a pistol and set the safety.

"Spy talk," Sarah answered. She decided to extend an olive branch. "I didn't mean to snap at you in the hospital. If I were in your place, I probably would have done the same."

Nikki stopped and looked her in the eyes. "Probably?"

"Yeah, probably." Sarah said. "Except that I would have done a side kick to his head followed by a punch to the nose, then a groin punch and probably a neck strike."

Nikki looked at her trying to see who would crack first. She did, and burst out laughing. Sarah joined in. Bryce and Casey stopped talking, looked back, and then returned to their spy tales. Their laughter died down.

"You really do love Chuck, don't you?"

Sarah thought of all the real life moments with Chuck. The best times were when they were spending time doing mundane, common things and they both laughed at every stupid, unfunny event. Everything was funny when Chuck was around.

"Yes."

"I believe you," Nikki replied. "And I know that Chuck loves you. But that doesn't mean that you're both right for each other. You're from a different world than him. You kill people for a living. He is the complete opposite. He is the kindest person I've ever known. He doesn't deserve to be in the spy world."

"Ever heard of opposites attract?" Sarah countered.

"That's a platitude and you know it. You first met him under cover. You lied when you first met him, and you have to keep lying to him to do your job. How can that ever work out?"

Sarah knew there were challenges to their relationship she didn't know the answers to. She deflected the conversation. "What about you? You have feelings for Chuck too. You may not have lied when you first met him, but you manipulated him."

"We do have some things in common you'll never have. We're both Intersects. There are things that only he and I can ever understand about each other. I'll never have to make a compromising decision about loving him or protecting him. We're on the same level," Nikki said confidently.

Sarah knew Nikki would play those cards. She knew that those were things she could never share with Chuck. She tormented herself every night before going to sleep with possible situations where she would have to compromise her love for him in order to complete her mission. Or would she compromise her mission to complete her love? It was an impossible situation she thankfully hadn't faced yet. She didn't know what she would do if and when an instance like that arose. She grabbed the nearest gun, slammed the magazine in, and cycled it with such force that the conversation between Casey and Bryce stopped again and both men looked back. Sarah stared at both of them, daring them to say something. They turned around and picked up their conversation where they left it.

She turned back to Nikki, who had a very serious look. Sarah couldn't deny the logic of Nikki's statements. She also couldn't deny the strong influence of her emotions, logic be damned.

"How about this," Sarah offered. "We do the assault, rescue Chuck, save the day, and pick up this conversation then? If you want to talk about it with punches and kicks, that's fine with me."

Nikki's eyes narrowed. "Deal." She extended her hand, which Sarah shook firmly. They both held the very firm grip longer than necessary.

Nikki smiled at the absurdity of the situation. "Let's talk about happy stuff. Like what I'm going to do to Jill when I get a hold of her-"

"When you get a hold of her?" Sarah looked offended. "You mean when I get my hands around her neck-"


	11. The end begins

_A/N: **verkisto**, thanks for the fresh set of eyes on this!_

**  
Carbon Beach, Malibu, 7:10am on a weekday**

"Have all our comrades responded to the rally order?" Jill asked.

Thompson looked up from his laptop. "They should all be arriving here in less than twenty. We haven't heard from Jacobs, though."

"Could be a commo problem. Or he could have been compromised. Either way, we'll see if and when he shows. With or without him, we'll go as a group to meet Fulcrum, turn over Chuck, and tell them all of the secrets we've learned," she said with a self-satisfied smile.

"This is a huge gift. I'm sure they'll be pleased."

"I'm sure," she smiled. "This is the night that Fulcrum became a part, perhaps even the engine, of the American intelligence community."

Thompson checked his phone as a text message arrived. He smiled.

"What's the news from D.C?" Jill asked.

"One-hundred-percent success. The chiefs of the NRO, FBI, and Secret Service have all been 'accidented.' Beckman and Graham have received their packages."

"Wonderful! I'll make sure and give those two a call. Have you heard from the Nikki grab team yet?"

"Not yet. How's our little experiment going? You know all the activation phrases, right?"

Jill glanced at her watch. "The upload should be complete. I'll go see."

* * *

Chuck's consciousness staggered into awareness when he heard a snapping noise. The noise was very insistent. He only wanted to go back to sleep and felt completely exhausted. When the snapping wouldn't stop, he finally opened his eyes and saw the source of his annoyance. It was the ex-girlfriend, snapping her fingers close to his ear.

"Time to wake up, sleepyhead. You have a big day ahead of you. I'm going to turn you over to Fulcrum, who will use you to data mine and flash on their enemies."

Chuck squinted at her through bleary eyes. "Jill, I admit that I may be a nice guy. I may even go so far as to call myself a pushover at times. But I don't think I'll be helping Fulcrum work against the U.S. government."

Jill looked over at the cold cup of coffee sitting on the table nearby. "Chuck, that's rude of you. You didn't enjoy the hot coffee I shared with you as your host." She moved closer and straddled him on his lap with her arms around his neck. He moved back as far as his restraints would allow.

"What's wrong, Chuck? You don't think we could rekindle our old flame? Do you think Sarah was prettier than me? Maybe you'll change your mind after we start spending more time together,"

"You're really sick, Jill. And, yes, Sarah will always be prettier than you. And better in every way."

"Hmm," she purred into his ear. "I think you're just remembering things wrong. La petite mort."

Chuck instantly went still and his eyes lost focus as the phrase triggered a flash. It was a special flash, where the newly uploaded Fulcrum database overwrote a tiny piece of the official Intersect.

"Sierra hotel alpha mike foxtrot five niner," he blurted out. His puzzled look prompted a huge smile from Jill.

"Perfect, Chuck! That's exactly what I wanted to hear."

"What have you done to me?"

"You basically have a poison pill in your head. One word from me and ZAP! The original Intersect will be overwritten by Fulcrum's version. Pretty cool, huh?"

"No! Not cool! Not cool at all!"

"Chuck, play your cards right and things will work out just fine. Kings play chess on fine gold sets one six nine."

Chuck immediately flashed on the activation phrase. "Hell is frozen. It's all Greek to me. The ball is in your court. Why am I saying these things?"

"Ooh, I'm sorry, but that phrase just slipped out!" she squealed. "I'm going to have to be careful with what I say around you! Your mind is amazing! It's almost one of a kind. Your Intersect soul mate should be arriving soon, by the way."

"What?! Nikki?" Chuck sputtered. He was having trouble thinking straight after experiencing the strange flashes Jill had induced. They felt just like normal flashes. He began to worry about what other information was contained in the Fulcrum database and how easily Jill could activate the information. And did she say that it overwrites the real Intersect? And did she say poison pill?

Before he could form a question, Jill got up and walked away. She looked over her shoulder before she left the room.

"We're going to make a great team, you, me, and Nikki. We'll be the Fulcrum ménage."

* * *

Thompson looked up immediately when Jill entered the room.

"We have a problem."

"What is it?" she asked.

"The Nikki Johnson grab team has failed to report. They're ten minutes overdue. I haven't been able to reach any of them."

Jill considered her options and contingency plans. "Hmm, the CIA must have some security measures we didn't know about. If we don't hear from them in another ten, we'll have to assume they failed."

"Do you want to evac this house sooner rather than later?"

"I don't think the house is burned. None of them knew our current location, since we were going to tell them when they were supposed to contact us. The rest of the team should be here shortly. I'm going to stick with the plan. We'll all rally here, then go visit the mother ship together," Jill decided.

"They should be here soon. How did the alternate Intersect overwrite go?"

"He passed the due diligence tests. I think we have the full range of activation codes available to us. He seems to have taken in all the data; he has an incredible mind."

"Would there be any conflict for you if you had to do a full activation? I mean, you guys had a thing, right?" Thompson asked.

Jill smirked. "That Jill died a long time ago."

**  
White Toyota van; Northbound PCH, Malibu, 7:24am on a weekday**

"Turn right, here."

The van heeled over as Casey snapped the vehicle through the intersection. Bryce was studying the cheap 7-11 map trying to find the best high ground above The Thirsty Bear's beachside house.

After climbing up Carbon Canyon Road for a bit, Bryce instructed Casey to turn left on Carbon Mesa Road. They passed several mansions before winding around and parking in a spot that overlooked their target. Bryce and Casey both observed the target through binoculars.

"Oh, shit," Casey said.

"What?" Sarah asked from the back. She and Nikki had been quiet since arriving at their understanding.

"The odds have changed. I can see several vans parked along the street. They're the same ones I saw leaving that warehouse they lured you to. Figure at least one agent per van, probably more. That makes a minimum of six bad guys with unknown defenses. We don't know where Chuck is being held. And another van just drove up," Bryce said.

"That just means we'll have to modify the plan," Sarah replied. As all eyes turned to her in disbelief, she added, "A little."

"Definitely more than just a little," Nikki said.

"Well, we'll have to take a closer look, anyway. Casey, you and Nikki stay here and be our lookouts. Sarah and I will drive by and try to get a look from the beach side. Call us if you see anything weird," Bryce said.

Casey instinctually wanted to object because he didn't feel like taking orders from anyone, especially Larkin. For some reason, he bit back the retort he was thinking of. He figured Larkin needed some alone time with Walker to sort out his issues. He was pretty sure her feelings were surprisingly well-sorted at this point so he simply nodded. There was some justice in the world if pretty-boy super-spy Bryce Larkin lost his girl to someone like Chuck.

Casey and Nikki exited the van and crept down the hillside, finding cover behind some shrubs. Bryce drove off in the van with Sarah in the passenger seat.

"Casey, let me ask you something."

He looked at Nikki, wondering where she was going with her question. He had no idea. "Shoot."

"Do all you spies dip your pens in company ink, or just Sarah?"

He coughed and swallowed to cover up the laughter that threatened to burst out.

"That's something you should ask her. But make sure I'm there to watch when you do."

**  
White Toyota van; Northbound PCH, Malibu, 7:27am on a weekday**

"So-"

"Well-"

They both stopped and looked at each other. A small smile broke on both their faces.

"You first," Bryce said.

"Ok. I was just wondering if you realized that what you did to Jill and Chuck at Stanford probably started this whole mess that we're in today."

"Whoa! What I did to Jill and Chuck? What did I do? I protected my best friend and kept the CIA from getting their hands on him. Jill helped me protect him."

"And you did a good job keeping Chuck out of the CIA, didn't you? Did Jill even know that she was helping you protect Chuck?"

"Yes," Bryce paused, "sort of. I had to keep her in the dark about certain things. And I did keep Chuck out of the CIA until Fulcrum ruined everything."

Sarah turned in her seat towards him in exasperation. "Bryce, are you even listening to yourself? You seduced Jill away from Chuck so he didn't have any ties back at Stanford. You made him leave and never look back. I understand that. But you seduced Jill and discarded her when you were done. She probably loved you. What do you think that did to her?"

His blood began to boil. "You're lecturing me on seduction?! I thought that was your specialty, miss blonde-haired, blue-eyed, busty, long-legged succubus! How many times have you seduced marks then killed them the next day or even the same night? Did you even give them time to roll off of you before you assassinated them?"

Sarah took a deep breath to calm herself. "You really don't see the difference, do you?" she replied sadly.

"Difference? What difference?!"

She looked at him and saw that he really didn't. She wondered how she had ever fallen for him. She was lucky to have met Chuck. "The difference is that Jill wasn't your mark. She was a civilian! An innocent that you used to forward your agenda. Your goal of protecting Chuck may have been noble, but your methods had repercussions that you never even considered and still don't take responsibility for. You know that spies and civilians don't mix well in romantic situations." She regretted the last words as soon as they came out of her mouth.

Bryce wanted to reply immediately, but they were just beginning to pass the Fulcrum vans on the street around their target house. They saw four men discreetly guarding the residence. They drove down the block to find a beach access point.

"So, Sarah, spies and civilians don't make good couples, right? Are you and Chuck a couple now? Because if you are, then you are the biggest hypocrite there is. I understand seducing him to get leverage and control. But you went further, didn't you? You fell in love with him!"

He was surprised when she didn't attack him with a quick reply, so he looked over and saw her staring at him, eyes wide and sad. It took the fight out of him.

"Sarah, what are you going to do if Graham orders you to eliminate Chuck? If Casey gets orders to eliminate him? Are you going to choose your duty or Chuck?"

She sniffled. "Been there done that Bryce. And I will always perform my duty to the highest standard possible. But if Fulcrum, Casey, the NSA, the CIA, you, or anyone else ever tries to hurt Chuck, they will have to go through me."

He looked at her and saw a level of fierceness in her eyes that he had never seen, even during the most harrowing missions they went on as partners. She was the most determined person he had ever met, and when she set her mind to something, she was a force of nature. He instantly knew that he had no chance of ever winning her heart. He saw a beach access path and parked the van.

"Well, Sarah, I guess Chuck is a lucky man. I love him like a brother and I guess I should be happy for him, even though it's hard to be at the moment."

"Just give it time and the idea will grow on you. Like it has on me."

"I can see that."

They exited the van and began walking down the path to the beach.

"You're operating outside the reservation, you know. Despite what you're doing, you are right that spies and civilians don't mix well. How can you serve two masters at the same time?"

She smiled as they turned to walk down the beach. She grabbed his hand so they looked just like another couple taking a morning stroll.

"It's actually not that difficult. You just have to choose."

**  
DNI office; Washington D.C., 10:30am on a weekday**

General Beckman and Director Graham were discussing their limited options when they received a call from Agent Lee.

"I have a progress report on the Intersect tracker retrofit."

"Proceed."

"The guys at Edwards were able to rip the tracker out of the Global Hawk and fit it into a targeting pod. Everything powered up fine and they hacked the hardware controller into the plane's avionics. I think it will work."

"Finally, some good news," Graham said. "How long until the F-16 is airborne?"

"They're fueling and loading ordnance now. It should be airborne in minutes. I'll have it fly in expanding orbits around Cedars-Sinai."

"Good work, Agent Lee," Beckman replied. An aide suddenly ran into the office.

"Hold on." Beckman muted the phone. "This had better be important!" she said to the aide.

"Ma'am, sir, there's a Jill Roberts on line three."

Beckman and Graham shared a worried look. Beckman un-muted Agent Lee.

"Lee, we have Jill Roberts on the other line. Hold on."

"Standing by, ma'am."

The general switched the speakerphone over to line three.

"This is General Beckman and Director Graham. Who is this?"

"This is Jill Roberts. The cause of your all-nighter. I trust you've received your packages? You must also have heard of the unfortunate rash of accidents that occurred in Washington this morning."

"We have," Graham began. "You are a terrorist of the highest order. You'll be hunted to the ends of the earth."

"Please, the NRO, FBI, and Secret Service are all run by Fulcrum now. As soon as you hand over the reins to your successors, the CIA and NSA will be Fulcrum shops as well. I'm calling to tell you when that's going to happen."

"Why should we listen to you?" Beckman asked.

"Because you don't want your dirty little secrets leaking onto the internet. That would harm your precious organizations far worse than Fulcrum leadership. Trust me, the public will never even know Fulcrum is running the show. They won't ever know what Fulcrum is. So let's discuss when Admiral Anders and Assistant Director Jamison will be taking charge."

"You can't just expect the leaders of the CIA and NSA to resign on the same day that the leaders of the NRO, FBI, and Secret Service died!" Graham argued.

"I can expect that and I do expect that. There are no conditions here. Your stepping down is unconditional. You'd better get your lackeys to start drafting those resignation letters. You have two hours." The line disconnected.

Beckman immediately dialed the Echelon office.

"Did you track the source of that call from Roberts on line three?"

"Negative. Somehow, they spoofed the call. The source is showing as your office."

"Find out where she called from!" Beckman slammed her fist onto the phone, disconnecting the call. She switched back to Agent Lee.

"Agent Lee?"

"Ma'am."

"The second you confirm that Johnson's signal is at a location that Bartowski and Roberts are likely at, target that location and destroy it with extreme prejudice."

"Ma'am? You want me to kill Nikki Johnson along with Bartowski and Roberts?"

"You heard the General. Those are your orders. Walker, Casey, and Larkin are all expendable." Graham responded.

"Yes sir." They disconnected the call.

"I hope they track Jill down in time," Graham said.

"Me too. I hate going with the nuclear option, but we can always build another intersect computer."

"I wonder if it's even worth the trouble."

**  
Carbon Mesa Road, Malibu, 7:41am on a weekday**

Casey and Nikki looked back as the white van parked and Sarah and Bryce began walking over to their concealed location. From the looks of things, they had had some kind of heart-to-heart.

"You guys work out all your issues? Can we get this show on the road?" Nikki asked.

"Not so fast, Nikki. We saw at least six Fulcrum agents watching the perimeter. We need to modify the plan to take them into account," Sarah said.

"I thought you guys were super-spies? You were outnumbered at the hospital and you whipped their asses! What's the problem?"

"The problem is that we don't even know where they're holding Chuck, and if we go in there blasting, he's liable to catch a stray bullet or three," Casey said.

"Argh!" Nikki yelled in frustration.

"We all feel the same way," Bryce said. "Can you keep an eye on the house while we super-spies go check out our weapons and gear?"

"Sure. Get your super-spy groove thang on."

Nikki trained her binoculars on the house while Sarah, Casey, and Bryce returned to the van to begin allocating the hardware.

They huddled under the rear liftgate and counted out one or two pistols and two sub-machine guns for each of the four of them. There were at least four full magazines for each weapon.

"Nikki can handle a sub-machine gun, right?" Bryce asked.

"I'm pretty sure she can shoot." She thought for an instant then backed away from the van. "Better safe than sorry though." Sarah looked around the van to where Nikki was concealed but didn't see her.

"Nikki!" Sarah called. When she didn't get a response, she began to walk down the hill. Sensing something wrong, Casey and Bryce followed. When they arrived at her hiding spot, they only found her binoculars.

**  
Carbon Beach, Malibu, 7:52am on a weekday**

Chuck looked up when Jill walked into the room. He was at a loss to come up with any plan to save himself. He hadn't lived up to his oath to not let Sarah's death be meaningless. The reality of being a Fulcrum tool for the rest of his life was beginning to sink in. Of all things, he wished that Sarah and Casey would burst in, guns blazing, and reprimand him for not staying in the car.

"Chuck, we'll be leaving soon. Team Fulcrum is all here."

"I'm ecstatic."

"Maybe this will cheer you up, then." She snapped her fingers. A large Fulcrum agent walked in dragging Nikki Johnson by the arm.

Chuck's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. "Nikki!"

"Hi, Chuck. It's good to see you, really," Nikki replied calmly.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"I've come here to offer Jill a trade. Me for you. I'll work for Fulcrum; you can go free."

"That's a ballsy move for you, Intersect chick. I respect your moxie. And I've made my decision," Jill said

"And that is?"

"I'm keeping both of you. We're moving out now."

"You're a dirty, evil whore-bitch!" Nikki roared.

"Yeah, so?"

"Nikki, Nikki, I have to ask you something!"

"What is it, Chuck?"

"I heard there were survivors of the Reaper strike. Are- I mean is- What I'm trying to ask is-"

"Oh, hell!" Jill interjected. "He wants to know if Sarah survived."

Nikki's face fell. "Chuck, I'm sorry, but Sarah and Casey both died in the attack."

Upon learning that his very slight hope that Sarah survived was extinguished, Chuck lowered his head and closed his eyes. He couldn't contain his sobs. He didn't care who saw him. He just stopped caring, period.


	12. Girl On Girl Action

_A/N: Thanks to Verkisto for her beta skills, and Go-Chuck-Go for...well, for the sneak preview. Any mistakes are all their fault!_

**  
Carbon Beach, Malibu, 7:55am on a weekday**

Nikki's heart broke as she witnessed Chuck's sobbing. A part of her wanted to run over to him, embrace him in a hug, and tell him that she was lying to protect the mission. But a greater part of her knew that the stakes were too high to let her poker face slip.

Thompson entered the room. "Everyone's here except for Jacobs. We can't confirm his location. He may have been compromised."

Jill began packing up her interrogation kit. "It doesn't matter. If Nikki here could find us, we have to assume others can too. We're leaving now."

Chuck stopped sobbing and looked up with bloodshot eyes. "I hate you Jill."

She smiled knowingly. "I could make you love me again if I wanted to." Chuck's eyes narrowed. "Thompson, get Bartowski ready to go. We're going to deliver these two gifts to the bosses."

**  
Carbon Mesa Road, Malibu, 7:56am on a weekday**

"Agent Lee, this is Agent Walker. Please tell me some good news." Sarah shared concerned looks with Bryce and Casey. They waited for Agent Lee's response over the speakerphone.

"Agent Walker, I have some good news. Nikki's GPS tracker indicates that she is currently being held in the living room of the house. The glass wall facing the ocean should facilitate easy entry. You ready for the bad news?"

The agents' concerned looks grew more so. "What's the bad news?"

"I have authority to drop a JDAM onto the house at this moment. Both Intersects and all of you are expendable."

Sarah closed her eyes for a moment. They all expected this outcome, but hoped their solution could buy enough time.

"Agent Lee, we're about to mount an assault on the house and recover the Intersects intact. The Fulcrum agents are contained in the house. There's no risk to you in holding off the airstrike. If we fail, you can destroy the house and the Fulcrum agents anyway. If we succeed, we all win." Sarah hoped she didn't emphasize her last sentence too strongly. She had the most to gain personally from Chuck's rescue.

Agent Lee replied in a lower volume, as if speaking conspiratorially into his phone's mic. "I've seen you guys in action so I'll hold off on the airstrike. I have eyes on the house and if I observe Fulcrum making a run for it, I won't hesitate to drop the bomb whether you're inside or not. You'd better move fast. I have two TAC teams on the way but they won't arrive for ten minutes."

"That's all we can ask of you," Sarah gratefully said. "We're going now."

**  
Carbon Beach, Malibu, 7:58am on a weekday**

As Thompson removed his restraints, Chuck thought of making a move. He had seen Sarah and Casey turn ordinary objects into lethal weapons before. There were some used syringes nearby that he could probably jam into Thompson's eye. He was sure Nikki would instantly spring into action if he made a move. He could feign weakness to lower Thompson's guard. As soon as Thompson removed the restraints, he lifted Chuck to his feet.

"See if you can stand. It will take a while to get your legs back after being interrogated in the same position like that under the influence of drugs," he said.

All thoughts of turning the syringes into weapons evaporated from Chuck's mind as he collapsed into a heap on the floor. He immediately felt nauseous and light-headed.

Jill walked out of the room with her interrogation equipment and returned momentarily with a portable X-Ray. "Nikki, let's get rid of your tracker, shall we?"

Her eyes betrayed her thoughts before she could school her features into place. Nikki hoped that the lynchpin of their plan wasn't about to get zapped. She hoped she had made the right decision about advancing the timetable on her own. If Sarah, Casey and Bryce hadn't been able to get a fix on her tracker yet, she could have doomed them all.

Unfortunately, Jill noticed her lapse.

"Aha, was that the plan Intersect girl? You know they grounded all the UAV's after the little fratricide incident earlier," Jill said. She activated the device and placed it on Nikki's back at the same spot where Chuck's tracker had been located. "They put it in the same location on both of you. How convenient." Nikki felt a tiny shock as the X-Ray device irradiated the tracker.

"You're clean now. Thompson, get Bartowski on his feet. It's time to go."

**  
Helipad, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, 7:59am on a weekday**

Agent Lee jumped into the MH-60 Blackhawk helicopter and slammed the door shut behind him. The pilot immediately lifted off.

"Vazquez, what's our ETA?" he asked after donning the communication headset.

"Under ten."

They both turned their attention to the video display being transmitted in real-time from Charlie Eleven, the F-16 currently orbiting Fulcrum's Malibu safe house. The stationary red dot indicating Nikki Johnson's location suddenly disappeared.

Agent Lee toggled his radio. "Charlie Eleven, did you just lose Nikki Johnson's GPS signal?"

"Affirmative. I am going to proceed with the strike. Do you copy?"

"Do not, I repeat, do not proceed with the strike. Continue to monitor only. I will give the order to drop ordnance. Please confirm."

"Lee, what the hell are you doing? You and I both have the same orders!"

"Major Reynolds, I have tactical command of this operation. I am looking at the big picture and have information you do not. You will hold ordnance until my order. Are we clear?"

Major Reynolds hesitated for a few seconds before replying. "I copy. I will hold ordnance until your order. You better not fuck this up. All our asses are on the line. Over."

Agent Lee switched his headset over to a discreet channel with Agent Vazquez.

"Mark, you know you can't hold them off for long," she said. "You might have only bought them a few minutes."

"I know, Carmen. I hope they're as good as we think."

They returned their attention to the monitor for any sign that Fulcrum was escaping the safe house.

**  
White Toyota van; Northbound PCH, Malibu, 7:59am on a weekday**

Casey slowed the van to ten miles-per-hour and pulled alongside the left hand curb. The sliding door opened. "See you guys inside," Sarah said as she jumped out and hit the pavement running. She instantly veered west toward the beach at full speed. Casey pulled back onto the highway.

Ten seconds later, he pulled alongside the right hand curb and slowed. The sliding door opened and Bryce prepared to exit. "I'll wait for your signal. I'm sure I won't miss it," he said with a smirk. He leapt out and ran along the sidewalk at full speed before running behind some landscaping.

Casey once again pulled back onto the highway and drove past their target in the flow of traffic. He spotted at least three hidden men watching the highway.

A half-mile past the house, he found a place to make a u-turn. Pulling over, he checked that the safeties were off on all his weapons. He tied a bungee cord around the steering wheel and armrest, ready to be tensed with a single pull. He placed the cinderblock on the floor near the accelerator so that only a small movement would lodge it against the pedal. Without hesitation, he floored it. Once he was close enough to point the van directly at the house, he locked the steering wheel and accelerator into place, scrambled to the back, and opened the sliding door. This was going to hurt.

**  
Carbon Beach, Malibu, 8:00am on a weekday**

Chuck's legs were beginning to gain enough strength for him to stand when he heard a few bursts of automatic gunfire from the street followed by a huge crash that rocked the house. It felt like an earthquake had struck. He glanced at Jill who had a puzzled look on her face. She couldn't understand how they had been located despite her countermeasures. Chuck then glanced at Nikki, who gave him the subtlest of winks.

Jill's radio crackled as several voices yelled at once. She keyed her mic. "Break, break! Clear the damn channel! Give me a sit-rep."

"Someone just drove a van through the front of the house. Ran over two of our agents."

"Everyone, evacuate now!" Jill commanded.

Rounds began impacting the front of the house from the street. Everyone ducked. They couldn't find the source. Fulcrum agents massed toward the street and began returning fire.

Jill marched up to Nikki drew her pistol and aimed it at her head. "What's the attack plan? How many are there?"

Nikki didn't respond until Jill whipped her across her mouth with the gun. After spitting out a bloody tooth, Nikki smirked. "A hundred, I think."

* * *

Once he heard the gunfire from the street, Casey made his move. He had rolled away from the runaway van at the last moment and was able to hide in the neighbor's yard during all the commotion. Once he heard Bryce's gunfire from across the street fix the Fulcrum operators in place, he hopped the fence. There was no resistance as he kicked in the side door. It looked like the plan had worked and the enemy had massed to the street side of the house. He caught sight of a Fulcrum agent peeking over a window sill trying to see where Bryce was shooting from. The man never had time to duck down again before Casey dispatched him with a single round to the head. One down…

* * *

Jill felt that Nikki had to be lying about a hundred-man TAC team, but the gunfire still hadn't diminished from the street side. She made a decision about their exit.

"Thompson, we're going with Plan B. Beach escape. Let everyone know-"

They heard two shots coming from the beach side of the house, right outside the window. Jill aimed her pistol at the wall of windows. She had hidden two agents on the beach to guard this side. Before she could speak again, a metal patio chair flew through one of the large window panes, shattering it to pieces.

Thompson jumped behind Nikki using her as a shield while pointing his pistol at the glass wall that was now missing a pane. His left arm clasped her left shoulder from behind while his right arm held his pistol above her right shoulder. Jill stepped closer to Chuck, also pointing her weapon at the missing glass. Chuck eyed the used syringes that were lying on the floor.

Their eyes were drawn to movement coming up the ramp that led up to the deck from the beach. Jill and Thompson instantly began firing at the human figure, shattering more windows in the process. They ceased fire when they realized that they had just shot Alton several times. He was one of the Fulcrum agents she had installed on the beach to guard the house.

Jill and Thompson glanced at each other in puzzlement when Alton didn't stop. His movements were strange. They didn't notice until it was too late that his feet weren't even touching the deck. He collided with one of the remaining window panes and crashed through. After Alton's body crashed down to the floor, everyone in the room caught sight of his puppet master. She was a beautiful, tall, slim woman wearing black and holding a sub-machine gun. Her angry blue eyes instantly cataloged and assessed the threats in the room.

Chuck and Sarah found each other immediately. That last shot of epinephrine gave Sarah a huge boost in strength and masked the pain of her injuries. She first spotted Chuck, standing unsteadily. Jill was nearby, pointing her weapon at Sarah. Thankfully, the distraction from the Fulcrum human shield kept Jill from shooting since she now had a clear shot. A Fulcrum agent was standing behind Nikki, but Sarah calculated that she wouldn't have to worry about him for long. She began to raise her sub-machine gun toward Jill. Sarah couldn't help herself and locked gazes with Chuck. She tried to convey through her eyes everything she felt for him.

Chuck saw her hair floating in the early morning breeze. It looked like her golden locks were weightless. Her eyes seemed bluer than he remembered and it seemed like ages since he'd last looked upon her, even though it had only been about nine hours. He felt a rush of adrenaline surge through him at the fact that she was still alive. And that she was here to rescue him. He caught the look in her eyes and tried to tell her the same thing back through his.

The fraction of a second that felt like forever to Chuck and Sarah ended loudly and abruptly. Jill and Thompson began firing their pistols at Sarah. She ran diagonally into the room through the broken glass returning fire at Jill, causing Jill's aim to falter. Thompson only squeezed off one shot which ruptured Nikki's right eardrum before she drove her whole body back into him as hard as she could knocking him off-balance and disrupting his aim. Thompson's right arm was now extended past her even as he stumbled back. With both hands, she grabbed his right wrist and yanked down as hard as she could. His elbow contacted her shoulder and Nikki had no difficulty levering his forearm downward. His elbow joint sickeningly bent forty-five degrees in the wrong direction. The pain instantly caused him to drop his pistol to the ground and scream. His scream was cut short when Jill turned around and began directing blows at his face.

Sarah's bullets missed their mark. She mentally created a fire-free zone around Chuck that limited her options, especially while dodging Jill's bullets. She continued firing at Jill while zigzagging at full speed across the large room. The remaining panes of the glass wall shattered from the impacts of Jill's missed rounds.

Jill was determined to put a bullet in Sarah. How the bitch had survived an airstrike and a collapsed building escaped her. It angered her that her best-laid plans were falling apart. Sarah was returning fire, but Jill knew that her proximity to Chuck was keeping her safe. Sarah would never risk Chuck to get her. It was a matter of time.

Sarah was running out of room and without cover. It was going to end one way or another in a few seconds. She was at a disadvantage and couldn't see a way to get Jill without endangering Chuck. A year ago, she could have confidently gone for a killshot and lived with the consequences. That was part and parcel of being a CIA agent. Now she couldn't. Amazingly, she had time to realize that she just answered the question that Bryce posed. Chuck came above her duty.

Thompson had recovered from the shock of his broken elbow and the blows Nikki had landed and began using his considerable size advantage to deflect her punches and kicks. He recognized her Krav Maga close-quarter attacks and kept her at a distance using kicks from his much longer legs. He was circling around to get back to his pistol lying on the floor.

Jill was down to her last four rounds, but calculated that it would be enough. She noticed that Sarah's suppressive fire stopped, but before she could question it, she felt a sharp pain in her right arm. She also felt a pair of arms wrap around her, pinning her arms to her torso. She glanced down and saw two empty syringes sticking out of her right shoulder and realized that Chuck actually did something.

"Jill, stop it. Now," his confident voice commanded into her ear. She was surprised that he acted. She couldn't see Thompson and Nikki, but heard a fight going on. Thompson couldn't be counted on for help. Sarah was now sprinting directly toward her. What was her best option?

Jill stomped down hard on Chuck's foot forcing his hug loose. He yelped from the pain. She swung her pistol back into his groin as hard as she could, and the bottom of the grip made solid contact against Chuck's privates. His yelp was silenced and turned into a sudden sucking in of air from the pain. He staggered back a few steps, his hands clasped to his throbbing crotch. Jill ran behind him, turning him into a shield, and pointed her pistol at his head.

"Sarah, stay back or Chuck dies!"

Chuck looked through the stars in his peripheral vision to see the business end of Jill's pistol pointed at his head. He jumped in surprise when red spray erupted from her hand. He thought she had actually pulled the trigger.

Jill watched the pistol drop from her right hand and could do nothing to stop it. Her mind registered the pain, but her training and adrenaline just filed that fact away. A look to her right revealed the blonde CIA agent standing three feet away, pointing her sub-machine gun at her head. She grudgingly admitted to herself that Sarah had made a hell of a moving shot.

Sarah smiled. "In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm the current girlfriend. Chuck and I are getting reunited. Jill, it never would have worked out between you two. Since you, Chuck has gotten over your betrayal and become a better person. Chuck may be a geek, but I love him and I'm sure he can take care of business in bed. We'll have the rest of our lives to find that out. And in case you still haven't figured it out, the name is Sarah, bitch. Good bye."

Sarah squeezed the trigger of her sub-machine gun and was rewarded with the sound of the firing pin clicking into an empty firing chamber.

Bullets impacted the floor and ceiling around them, kicking up shrapnel and making Sarah, Chuck, and Jill dive down.

Across the room, Thompson picked up his fallen pistol with his left hand. Nikki was biting his arm, forcing him to discharge rounds erratically.

It was just enough of a distraction to allow Jill to pull an extendable steel baton from her left pant pocket. In one motion, she pushed the release button extending the baton to its twenty-one inch length, drew it back slightly, and swung it at Sarah's head. Sarah had just dropped her empty magazine to the floor and was about to insert a full one when she dropped the magazine and lifted her gun up to block Jill's attack. Sarah prevented the baton from cracking her skull, but it managed to catch her right index finger and break it.

She had experienced broken bones before, and the excess of adrenaline in her body allowed her to simply make a note of it and continue fighting. She took two steps back attempting to get some space away from Jill and time to either reload her sub-machine gun or draw her pistol, but her opponent wasn't giving her the chance. Lacking firearms and fighting with a gunshot in her right hand, Jill intended to attack Sarah relentlessly from close range.

As Sarah tried to put space between her and Jill, Chuck shook off his pain and wobbly legs and made a run at Jill. If he could buy Sarah a few seconds, she could end this.

Jill sensed his approach. Before he got within arms reach, she yelled out a series of words while pressing her attack on his blonde girlfriend. Jill decided that she had to go with the total overwrite option.

"Sigma tango foxtrot zulu zero six zero!"

Chuck froze and his eyes rolled back into his head. He experienced the mother of all flashes. Thousands of images and files flooded his mind's eye. Along with a great deal of pain. He collapsed face-first to the floor grabbing his head and screaming in agony.

"Aahh!"

His sudden fall to the floor and ongoing writhing captured Sarah's attention. Her eyes flicked to him and her guard dropped. Jill took instant advantage and cracked Sarah's right wrist with her baton forcing her to drop her sub-machine gun. It gave Jill momentary pleasure to know that even if she didn't survive this fight, she had ensured that Chuck's and Sarah's relationship was forever altered.

Nikki had also seen Chuck fall to the floor and from her viewing angle, thought that Jill cracked him on his head with her baton. Sarah seemed to be having trouble fending off Jill's attacks as well as being distracted by Chuck. She felt relieved that she was almost done with this Fulcrum agent. Thus far, she had broken his right elbow, bitten several chunks out of his left arm, broken his nose, kicked his groin, and probably broken a rib. In return, she earned a ruptured right eardrum, a swollen eye, bloody nose and mouth, bruised and bleeding knuckles, and probably a bruised rib from the much larger man's kicks. She sensed his strength ebbing and went for the kill. She feinted, then got in close and delivered a knee to his groin. With all her strength, she aimed a punch at Thompson's Adam's apple and connected. He dropped to his knees with bloody bubbles gurgling from his mouth. Nikki stepped back and directed a full-strength front kick at his head. Thompson fell backwards onto the floor with a final thump.

Nikki picked up the pistol that Thompson had been firing and discovered that it was empty. Tossing it to the side, she ran to join Sarah's and Jill's dance. Chuck was still writhing on the floor but had to wait since Jill was the greater threat. She wondered where Bryce and Casey were. They were supposed to have reinforced them by now.


End file.
